Welcome to the Recovery Show. We are friends and family members of

alcoholics and addicts who have found a path to serenity and happiness.

We who live or have lived with a seemingly hopeless problem of addiction

understand as perhaps few others can.

So much depends on our own attitudes and we believe that changed attitudes can aid recovery.

During this show, we will share our experiences as they relate to the topic of denial.

We hope that you will find something in our sharing that speaks to your life.

My name is Spencer, and I'll be your

host today. Joining me is Kelly. How are you today, Kelly?

Excellent Spencer, how are you? And also joining us is Erica. How are you doing, Erica?

I'm good, I'm a little nervous but otherwise fantastic.

All right. We found a reading and we're going to read part of it now and part of it later and we'll talk about it.

Life is a package deal. It is not enough to look only at the parts we like it is necessary to face the

whole picture so that we can make realistic choices for ourselves and stop setting

ourselves up for disappointment.

Living with alcoholics, many of us coped with an ever-shifting situation in which our sense of reality

changed from one minute to the next.

We adapted by taking whatever part of reality suited us and ignoring the rest.

Again and again, we were devastated because reality didn't go away, just because it was ignored.

So Kelly, what's your understanding of denial

and what was your early experience of it?

Well, before the program, I don't know that I really understood the idea of denial as it applied to me personally.

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