Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions

Product Information

In chemistry, when two substances are introduced, if either component reacts at all then both are changed forever’ In today’s episode, we cover self-mastery with Dr. Michael Gervais. Michael is one of the world’s top high performance psychologists The premise of his program is that the 12 steps followed by Alcoholics Anonymous can work for anyone. Recovery is the 12 steps, as translated by Russell Brand.” — Sunday Times (UK)

Do we really overcome addiction, or is it an ongoing struggle that requires constant attention and maintenance? In the book’s technical aspects, it is well written - a surprise to me as I didn’t know Brand was an accomplished writer. If anything, it is at times over written to disguise the fact that it gets repetitive as it goes along. There is one theme - recovery - and while the structure (the 12 step program) ensures that this theme follows a trajectory, the analysis starts to feel shallow, and dare I say it, a bit prescriptive, after a while. You can skip passages and you won’t really lose out on much. Exploring the very core of your mind and understanding how to regulate patterns to help promote positive change into your life. He does this by challenging your current perspective and displays a detailed account of how you can recover and improve your emotions, thoughts and feelings of misery and unhappiness. It is a very particle approach for anyone and not just those with well know serious addictions i.e. alcohol, sex and drugs. It allows anyone to enter the realm of reprogramming their minds to improve their quality of life. Tools to help you understand the areas of concern or difficulties and creating structured and effective solutions to counter them. A theist is a person who has seen through the material and mechanical world and doesn’t commit suicide’.”

When we say that anybody can utilize the teachings in this book, we mean just that—anybody. Early on, Brand makes the point that we all suffer from inner turmoil in one form or another. And while those with tangible and easily defined addictions may require help more urgently than others, a program of self-discovery and transformation can benefit anybody who feels ready to change. Russell has a firm grasp on the 12 steps, a relatable life story and an outlook on life I enjoy hearing. Yes, people made mistakes but that’s what humans do and I am under no obligation to hoard these errors and allow them to clutter my perception of the present.” The concept of twelve-step programs began in the early 20th century United States as a way to help alcoholics recover and rehabilitate, but it’s been widely applied to treatment of a number of addictions since then.

My qualification for writing this book is not that I am better than you, it's that I am worse. I am an addict, addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, money, love and fame.' A thought-provoking explication of the 12-step program run through the Mixmaster of Mr. Brand’s verbal pyrotechnics . . . spellbinding . . . stunning.” — The New York TimesThere are parts of the book that are very good to great, but there are parts that are a bit out of place a couple of Russell’s antidotes seem out of place and I am not sure the go with the step he was trying to portray. Before we can realize this person, however, we must often get in touch with our dark side. Furthermore, upon seeing the light inside of ourselves, we must work to nurture it. Because while we may keep the darkness at bay to the point of never hearing from it again, our base nature never truly disappears.

Initially, some of his views may seem incompatible with the messages you hear in the rooms. In truth, however, Brand cuts right to the heart of the spirit behind the 12 Steps. Based primarily on principles with only minimal focus on orthodoxy, he presents a program of recovery that anybody can utilize. Below are just a few points of discussion that we found particularly thought-provoking. I think it’s part of being human. To carry a wound. A flaw. And again, paradoxically, it is only by facing it that we can progress” We refer to the 12 Steps as a program of action. Perhaps no action taken in this process stokes as much fear in people as that of making amends. Many struggle with simply revisiting the past in Step 4, and find themselves doubly fearful when stating the past aloud in Step 5. But when we must again revisit the past in Step 8 and confront it head-on in Step 9, some recovering addicts and alcoholics find themselves feeling resistant. Not only must we stand up and accept responsibility for our wrongs, but this often requires us to forgive others for the wrongs they committed against us. If you live constantly confined by your unwillingness to go through pain, you do not develop into who you are supposed to be.” -Russell Brand The Cheat Sheet:As I write this review I am 600 days sober (I didn't know the exact number before starting this review. It just worked out well.) PS my favourite quote from the book, and a reminder of how much we are changed by everyone we interact with: