Remembering
9/11/2025 I am aware it is suicide prevention month and I am attempting to figure out how to address that in a subsequent blog post. I’ve already received some prodding on why I have not made a post about that. More later. Today, I cannot help but reflect on this date in time. The anniversary […]
CALL TO ACTION 2025
2025 CALL TO ACTION Warrior definition: ‘A person engaged or experienced in warfare. Broadly: A person engaged in a struggle or conflict.’ Recovery definition: ‘The process of combating a disorder (such as alcoholism) or a real or perceived problem.’ I am Michael O’Connor, an honorably discharged combat veteran of the 2/505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd […]
Powerlessness and Control
18 November, 2024 Recovery is a full contact sport, Part II Powerlessness and Control “…To gain power is to be increasingly powerless” – Olivia Blake Who wants to admit they are powerless? Isn’t nature in its purest sense about gaining power? The alpha male wolf of the pack? Isn’t human society built on power and […]
WARRIORS PROMISE
WARRIORS PROMISE Definition Warrior: “A person engaged or experienced in warfare.” “A person engaged in some struggle or conflict.” Definition Promise: “A declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified.” especially “ground for the expectation of success, improvement, or excellence.” The struggle of alcoholism and addiction and how it affects us as […]
Got Your Six
My faith in a program of recovery was put to the test. I was on a 9 hour mission to pick up a fellow addict and bring him into treatment. It started well, picked him up from his home north of Houston and made my way to Austin. Half way there my tire exploded and […]
Recovery Journey: Fitness
07SEP24 My recovery journey: Fitness When I was in the Army, I took my job seriously and I observed and learned from whom I considered to be the better leaders I had access to. One of them probably counseled me in writing on their expectations that I maintain my health; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. […]
Whatever it Takes
WHATEVER IT TAKES January 20, 2023, I lay in an ICU of Bangkok Hospital, Phuket. I was physically, mentally, and spiritually broken. The co-founder of the Residential Treatment Center I was admitted to for the third time asked me by my bedside: “What are you willing to do to stay sober? I want you to […]
Trust and Time
In active addiction, I lost everything for one thing. In sober recovery, I have everything for losing one thing. I didn’t make that statement, but it resonates with me. Trust and time are the most precious commodities. I lost over a decade in addictive addiction and the trust of everyone I loved and held dear. […]
Confronting Life’s Adversities: Growing from the Pain
“Adversity Introduces a Man to Himself” -Anonymous When I made the decision to seek treatment and fully acknowledged my identity as an addict and alcoholic, I understood that this challenge would be a lifelong journey, not just a short-term endeavor. Embracing this reality meant that nothing would remain the same if I wanted to overcome […]
A Warrior Called
Last Sunday night, a warrior called and asked for help. We came into the Warriors Heart sober living around the same time last year and formed a positive bond of friendship. He left several months before me with another warrior friend to move into a house his friend purchased. His friend had relapsed, and he […]