David Chernow

Three years ago I stopped drinking alcohol.  I never considered myself a heavy drinker.  I would have 1 maybe 2 drinks 1-2 times a week and mostly on the weekends.  And, although my summer drinking was a little more frequent, I never really felt it was out of control although the genetic predispositions were there.  See, my mother had struggled with alcohol abuse during my teenage years – but after attending her first AA meeting my senior year of high school, she remained sober (with 1 relapse) for the last 35 years of her life. Although alcohol played more of a leading role in my family dynamic growing up, I never really felt the addictive pull of it. 

Your thoughts (imagination), which are anchored to and navigated by your belief systems are activated and propelled by your emotions which manifest the events that form the life you experience on a daily basis.

Period.

If you have ever taken time to contemplate your existence, your life, your circumstances and realized that it was time for a change, look no further than your “belief system” as the culprit for whatever you are experiencing in this present moment.  At the core of who we are and what we stand for to ourselves and the world at large, is a set of principles, ideologies and/or moral codes.

After 20 years, my family is reordering. My kids have “flown the nest”—one as far west as possible and one as far south as possible. Transitioning from a “hands on” to a “hands off” parent was expected. I wasn’t entirely prepared for how it would feel. The “nest is empty” but I am still a parent and know that my kids still need me. The landscape has changed, however, it is doubtful that they will ever live full time in our home again or that they will ever need me in the capacity they used to. With my extra free time, I have had more than a few moments to contemplate the last 20 years of parenting. In fact, I find myself doing quite a bit of reviewing and I’ve contemplated the entire 54 years of my life. With reviews come ratings and if I had to rate my performance, I believe my grades would be mixed – everything from A‘s to D’s.