Heroin, Oxycontin, and Other Opiates: 

Breaking Your Addiction           

 "There is a “carrot and stick” to opiates.  Imagine a jackass chasing a carrot dangled in front of him on a stick.  The animal will chase that carrot until he is exhausted, remembering the taste of the first carrot.

            "Now imagine that his master finally allows him to eat the carrot in the shade.  The carrot only satisfies his hunger for a few minutes.  In what seems like a moment, his master will be hitting him with a stick to get him moving again.  Soon his belly is rumbling, his sides hurt from the stick, and he knows he must get up to chase another carrot.

            "Opiates are the carrot and the stick.  The high, and the escape from pain, are the carrot.  Withdrawal and all the problems opiate addiction causes are the stick.  Addiction is the master.  Guess which role you play.  This workbook will help you stop."

Heroin, OxyContin, & Other Opiates: Breaking Your Addiction  (c)2005 by Ken Montrose 

The kindle version of this workbook is free through Friday 12/13 at:https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S 

Free this Week:

AArdvarks (a daily recovery message novella) 

https://lnkd.in/epeWgyZ
Vampires and Zombies
"I read one of your books today," my son said  as I sat next to him on the couch.

"What'd you think?" I asked.

"It was OK, but you should add zombies and vampires to your books."

"I'm not sure how I'd work zombies and vampires into a book about addiction," I said. "Vampires don't do well in rehab, the undead don't go to AA meetings."

"OK, but vampires are like the people in your books. They're a danger to the living. They spend all night looking for something.  They know they're dead inside, but they're afraid of being completely dead."

"What about zombies?" I asked.

"They're  worse.  They chase their stuff night and day.  They don't remember what it was like to be alive.  Maybe you could write a book about vampires who become zombies."

"I think you've got an idea there, son," I said.

"I want it dedicated just to me," he said, laughing.  "And royalties."

Today I will be grateful I'm no longer a zombie.

Free This Week:
Heroin, Oxycontin, & Other Opiates: Breaking Your Addiction

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

     "There is a “carrot and stick” to opiates. Imagine a jackass chasing a carrot dangled in front of him on a stick. The animal will chase that carrot until he is exhausted, remembering the taste of the first carrot.
     "Now imagine that his master finally allows him to eat the carrot in the shade. The carrot only satisfies his hunger for a few minutes. In what seems like a moment, his master will be hitting him with a stick to get him moving again. Soon his belly is rumbling, his sides hurt from the stick, and he knows he must get up to chase another carrot.
     "Opiates are the carrot and the stick. The high, and the escape from pain, are the carrot. Withdrawal and all the problems opiate addiction causes are the stick. Addiction is the master. Guess which role you play. This workbook will help you stop."

Free This Week:

Hauling it to the Curb: 

Cleaning Up Your Life in Early Recovery

Here's an excerpt:

Denial Dictionary

•    alcoholic: anyone who drinks more than we do, or drinks a cheaper brand in rougher places; "If you want to see alcoholics, stick your head in the door at Bubba's. I'm going to the country club for a wine tasting.”
•    coupla: an unspecified amount greater than two; “I’m gonna have a coupla beers.”

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

The ebook version of Forgiveness in Recovery will be available free of charge from 6/10 to 6/14. 

Written for people new to recovery, this workbook helps the reader develop a realistic outlook on forgiveness. Basic, and sometimes difficult, truths discussed in Forgiveness include:
▸ The people we hope will forgive us don’t have to.
▸ Seeing the other person’s point of view isn’t always easy, our point of view may not be easy for them to see.
▸ We do well to practice the AA slogan clean your side of the street.
▸ Forgiveness is a wonderful gift, but one we may have to give judiciously.
▸ Part of recovery is learning to forgive ourselves.

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0Shttps://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

Free this week:

ebook: The Road Way Less Traveled: Starting Recovery Young

https://www.amazon.com/Ken-Montrose/e/B001K8MG0S

Here's an Excerpt:

Singing Rats: 

A parable about changing people, places, & things

There were three houses in a row.  In each house lived one man.  These houses became infested with singing rats.  The rats sang special songs that touched the souls of each man, even though each rat sang a different song.  These rats carried fleas, and the flea bites made the men sick.  The rats ate most of the men’s food, made nests in their furniture, ordered junk from the internet, and ran up huge phone bills.  Soon the three houses were falling apart because the men were too busy listening to the rats to make home repairs.
Eventually, all three men realized they had to change their lives.  The first man made up his mind he would live with just one rat and the rest had to go. “Once I make up my mind, I stick to my guns,”  he said.  “I can handle a rat or two.”  Two months later, the rats threw him out, but kept his car and his credit cards.  “Don’t come back, or we’ll rat you out to your probation officer,” they told him.
     The second man put up a tent in his yard, and decided he would only go back into his house to eat.  “That way I can still have music with my meals.”  Two years later he replaced the rats with dancing mice.  “It was the noise from the rats that was ruining my life,” he said.  When they buried him, the mice danced on his grave.
The third man burned his house to the ground.  All the rats that weren’t killed ran to his neighbors’ houses, too afraid to return.  The third man also lived in a tent for a while.  Slowly, a little at a time, he built a new house where his old house had stood.  He bought a mean cat.


 Which man are you most like?       

The Road Way Less Traveled: Starting recovery young, p. 7. © 2002 by Ken Montrose)

ebook version free this week from https://www.amazon.com/Ken-Montrose/e/B001K8MG0S

Five People

I woke up the next day not looking forward to the funeral.

When I trained addiction counselors, I always gave them three or four gratitude exercises.  The only one that raised eyebrows was asking them to name five people they were grateful they were not. Some thought it was a cold approach to gratitude.

I thought of five people. Some names were serious, others not so much.

I was grateful I wasn’t Katie.  I had a heavy heart, but I was alive with a full day ahead of me.  I was grateful I wasn’t my wife. She had to put with me.  I was grateful I wasn’t a fan of certain NFL teams. The list went on.

Today I’ll make a list of five people I’m glad I’m not.

 Dogged Determination ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/

Free This Week on Amazon, Kindle Versions of:

AArdvarks: A Daily Recovery Message Novella

Dancing With Rachel (novel)

Home Groupies (daily recovery message novella)

Another Day

“Long day?” Dr. Deb asked as she turned out the light.

“Sure was,” I said. “Katie was one of a kind. I like Cara in much smaller doses. Not sure what’s going on with Kim and Josh.”

“Tomorrow’s another day.”

“It’s the day of the funeral, but it’s still another day.  Who knows what good might come from it?”

Today I’ll be grateful for another day.

 Dogged Determination ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Free This Week:

Dancing with Rachel

AArdvarks: A Daily Recovery Message Novella

Home Groupies

https://www.amazon.com/Ken-Montrose/e/B001K8MG0S