By David Joel Miller, MS, Licensed Therapist & Licensed Counselor.

If self-help and self-improvement work, why are people still looking?

There are no shortages of self-help books or self-improvement products.

They appear on talk shows, on the internet, and in bookstores aplenty. With all that help why are so many people still looking for a way to achieve happiness and then to stay happy?

There are more than enough religions on earth and plenty of room for anyone who wants to join one, still, there is widespread unhappiness. Why can’t we find a way to happiness and stay there? Some Religions pride themselves on their ability to bear up under suffering, seem to relish in it, and contend that they are better at suffering than others.

Not many groups can honestly say that their members are happy on a consistent basis. Your higher power may take away your burdens but you still have the requirement to walk the road of life.

The journey from mental illness or addiction to recovery is a long one.

The road is easier to travel if you have a trustworthy guide. Counselors, therapists, and peers can point us in the direction of recovery. Why is no one able to tell you how to stay happy and recovered once you get there?

Recovery reminds me of the bills I pay. Every month I pay the rent and the utilities and come the first of the month that unreasonable landlord, along with the illogical utility close on his heels, sends me another bill to pay. I paid you off completely last month and you want me to pay again?

Why can’t I be rid of bills and unhappiness all by making one final payment?

What I have come to discover is that most of life’s challenges are not the one-time crisis but the day-to-day strains. The things that throw us off track are not the huge things that others may have labeled us with. Unhappiness often comes not from the nature of our challenges, but from the problems of daily living. This is a real-life, some days I like it and some days I do not.

No matter how hard I struggle to get out of the ditch and back on the road of life there are always bound to be more bumps down the road. Just because I get up does not mean that nothing will ever knock me down. The road of life is full of bumps. At any time the problems of life can knock me down again. What matters is how I react to those crises, that and having a good support team that can help pull me out of the ditch and gets me back on the road of life again.

As I face the day-to-day challenges in my life I try to keep reminding myself that this too will pass. The pain may be a part of life but the suffering continues to be optional. I can stay stuck in my problem or I can move forward and have the best life possible under the circumstance. The choice is mine.

How is your recovery going today?

Are you making progress towards being the better person you want to be? Have you seized some positive thoughts and some happiness today? What are you doing to further your recovery? If you have a support system in place have you reached out to them recently? If there is no one in your corner how can you create and maintain that support system we all need? Here is wishing you all the happiness that you can squeeze out of this life whatever the challenges and obstacles you are struggling with today. Life never is about the destination, it is always about how well we make the journey.

Related articles

• Self-Doubt – silencing the inner critic (counselorssoapbox.com)
• Five ways to sabotage your self-improvement or recovery program (counselorssoapbox.com)
• Friends can be like jumper cables or emotional vampires (counselorssoapbox.com)
• Why you want them to criticize you (counselorssoapbox.com)
• Why worry may not be a bad thing (counselorssoapbox.com)
• 5 Rules for Helping and Being Helped (counselorssoapbox.com)
• 5 things you need to ask yourself about mistakes to avoid making them again (counselorssoapbox.com)
• 5 reasons learning and memory are not about intelligence (counselorssoapbox.com)
• How far is it to Contentment? (counselorssoapbox.com)

Staying connected with David Joel Miller

Seven David Joel Miller Books are available now!

My newest book is now available. It was my opportunity to try on a new genre. I’ve been working on this book for several years, but now seem like the right time to publish it.

Story Bureau.

Story Bureau is a thrilling Dystopian Post-Apocalyptic adventure in the Surviving the Apocalypse series.

Baldwin struggles to survive life in a post-apocalyptic world where the government controls everything.

As society collapses and his family gets plunged into poverty, Baldwin takes a job in the capital city, working for a government agency called the Story Bureau. He discovers the Story Bureau is not a benign news outlet but a sinister government plot to manipulate society.

Bumps on the Road of Life. Whether you struggle with anxiety, depression, low motivation, or addiction, you can recover. Bumps on the Road of Life is the story of how people get off track and how to get your life out of the ditch.

Dark Family Secrets: Doris wants to get her life back, but small-town prejudice could shatter her dreams.

Casino Robbery Arthur Mitchell escapes the trauma of watching his girlfriend die. But the killers know he’s a witness and want him dead.

Planned Accidents  The second Arthur Mitchell and Plutus mystery.

Letters from the Dead: The third in the Arthur Mitchell mystery series.

What would you do if you found a letter to a detective describing a crime and you knew the writer and detective were dead, and you could be next?

Sasquatch. Three things about us, you should know. One, we have seen the past. Two, we’re trapped there. Three, I don’t know if we’ll ever get back to our own time.

For these and my upcoming books; please visit my Author Page – David Joel Miller

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