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John MacDougall

John MacDougall is the Spiritual Care Coordinator at The Retreat.
His book, “Being Sober and Becoming Happy” is available from Amazon.com

Recent Posts

“That’s How You Get To Be An Old Pilot!”

[fa icon="calendar'] Apr 2, 2019 6:00:00 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, Sober Housing, AA Big Book, Older Adult Recovery Programs, Recovery Program

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If tempted, we recoil from it as from a hot flame

[fa icon="calendar'] Feb 27, 2019 6:00:00 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism, AA Big Book, Recovery Program, Drugs Adiction

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Reflections on the coldest night of the year

[fa icon="calendar'] Jan 30, 2019 8:03:10 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, Older Adult Recovery Programs, Men's Sober Residential, Women's Sober Residential, Drugs Adiction

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It’s Tuesday afternoon at The Retreat, and it’s cold. Right now it is 6 degrees below zero. The forecast for tonight is 26 below. Tomorrow’s forecast is 15 below in the daytime and 29 below at night. The all-time low was 32 below, set on the evening of February 3, 1996.

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Friends of Bill W. Meet In The Stuyvesant Room at 4:00 P.M.

[fa icon="calendar'] Jan 3, 2019 5:54:32 PM / by John MacDougall posted in family recovery, AA meetings, Drug Rehab, Family Sober Support, Recovery Program

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I just returned from a Christmas cruise with a family group of nine people on Holland America’s new ship, the Niew Statendam. Our group of nine included my wife and myself, our two daughters, two sons-in-law, and three grandchildren. We all get along well.

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It’s Ok to Be Sad at Christmas, If We Have Something to Be Sad About

[fa icon="calendar'] Nov 30, 2018 6:12:23 PM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, family recovery, Sober Housing, alcohol abuse, Family Sober Support

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This month, there are a lot of “service pieces” in magazines and newspapers with helpful advice about how to not be sad at the holidays of Christmas and Hanukkah. These well-meaning columns have suggestions on how to change our moods and move away from sadness. However, I have a theory that having feelings that match reality is mental health, not mental illness.

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“If I Recover, Who Will I Be?”

[fa icon="calendar'] Nov 14, 2018 9:30:00 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 step program, AA meetings, AA Big Book, Recovery Program

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I never asked this question when I was getting sober, but I have heard other people ask it. I thought they were raising unreasonable objections to getting sober or expressing resistance to recovery. Over the years, patients at Hazelden and guests at The Retreat have spoken of their reluctance to recover by saying that they are afraid to recover, because they are afraid of who they might be if they stop drinking or drugging. What will happen, they ask, if they get sober and don’t like themselves, or don’t like who they have become?

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Humility involves always being open to new learning.

[fa icon="calendar'] Oct 1, 2018 9:19:41 PM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 step program, 12 steps of aa, AA Big Book, Recovery Program

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When I was a boy, I eagerly read each issue of Mad Magazine. It’s fictional editor, Alfred E. Neuman, had a quote above the index of each issue. One of my favorites was “Some minds are like concrete: all mixed up and permanently set.” A Peanuts cartoon of that era had Lucy shouting “If you can’t be right, be wrong at the top of your voice.” I’m writing this newsletter during the Senate hearings on a Supreme Court nomination. It seems as if nearly everyone is sure that they know what happened at a high school party long ago: the nominee is guilty, or innocent, depending upon whom you ask. I’m not hearing the more humble opinion of “I don’t know, I wasn’t there.”

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Evaluating Our Own Sobriety

[fa icon="calendar'] Aug 22, 2018 9:30:00 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, AA meetings, 12 steps of aa, AA Big Book, Recovery Program

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Alcoholism is a disease of self-deception. We can be taking all twelve steps, and still avoid the spiritual growth of the program. “Remember” the Big Book says, “that we deal with alcohol---cunning, baffling, and powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power—that One is God. May you find Him now!” (p.58-59)

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Alcoholics Anonymous Has A “Safety Card” Because We Are Making Spiritual Progress

[fa icon="calendar'] Jul 25, 2018 10:00:00 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, 12 step program, AA meetings, 12 steps of aa, AA Big Book

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The A.A. Big Book, on page 60, states “The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.”

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“Could We Have A Moment of Silence….”

[fa icon="calendar'] Jun 27, 2018 10:26:24 AM / by John MacDougall posted in Alcoholics Anonymous, AA meetings, alcohol abuse, Recovery Program, Drugs Adiction

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At many AA meetings, somewhere in the program, a person asks “Could we have a moment of silence for the alcoholic who still suffers?” We are briefly quiet, perhaps thinking of someone we know whose suffering is all too clear to us. I also think of those whose suffering is over because they lost their lives in a struggle with alcohol or drugs.

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