June 29, 2025
"Your potential for transformation is infinite."
Welcome to AndAmandaSaid.com!
Step inside and join me as I share my thoughts, experiences, and insights on navigating the complexities of life.
Here, you'll find a space for open conversation, where I delve into topics close to my heart – from personal growth and navigating challenging experiences like trauma and addiction, to exploring the beauty and humor that threads through our everyday moments. Consider this your invitation to connect, learn, and perhaps even find a bit of guidance or shared understanding.
I'm thrilled to have you here, and I hope you find something that resonates with you. Let's explore, learn, and maybe even share a laugh or two, together. Another key focus of AndAmandaSaid.com is fostering meaningful relationships in an increasingly disconnected world. Whether it's strengthening family bonds, deepening friendships, or building romantic connections, I reflect on the power of vulnerability, communication, and authenticity.
Together, we'll tackle the challenges of modern relationships and uncover ways to create deeper, more fulfilling connections with the people who matter most.
This picture of me to the right was myself 3 months clean in 2024. I will try to find a photo so you can see how my health was deteriorating and the progress I made in my health and hygiene, but also my heart and brain has transformed into such a happy person. I am back to being myself again. I can laugh and enjoy the simple things in life once again.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY
Sunday June 29
Thought for the Day
The program of Alcoholics Anonymous involves a continuous striving for improvement. There can be no long resting period. We must try to work at it all the time. We must continually keep in mind that it is a program not to be measured in years, because we never fully reach our goals nor are we ever cured. Our alcoholism is only kept in abeyance by daily living of the program. It is a timeless program in every sense. We live it day by day, or more precisely, moment by moment - now. Am I always striving for improvement?
Meditation for the Day
Life is all a preparation for something better to come. God has a plan for your life and it will work out, if you try to do His will. God has things planned for you, far beyond what you can imagine now. But you must prepare yourself so that you will be ready for the better things to come. Now is the time for discipline and prayer. The time of expression will come later. Life can be flooded through and through with joy and gladness. So prepare yourself for those better things to come.
Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may prepare myself for better things that God has in store for me. I pray that I may trust God for the future.
Welcome to and Amanda said!!
"Start your day with a coffee or tea, and meditate on a good read." - Amanda
I don't sell books but I did provide an Amazon link if you'd like to explore that option through an outside source.
A RIPPLING EFFECT
June 29
Having learned to live so happily, we'd show everyone else how. . . . Yes, we of A.A. did dream those dreams. How natural that was, since most alcoholics are bankrupt idealists. . . . So why shouldn't we share our way of life with everyone?
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 156
The great discovery of sobriety led me to feel the need to spread the "good news" to the world around me. The grandiose thoughts of my drinking days returned. Later, I learned that concentrating on my own recovery was a full-time process. As I became a sober citizen in this world, I observed a rippling effect which, without any conscious effort on my part, reached any "related facility or outside enterprise," without diverting me from my primary purpose of staying sober and helping other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
June 29, 2025
Keeping recovery fresh
Page 187
"Complacency is the enemy of members with substantial clean time. If we remain complacent for long, the recovery process ceases."
Basic Text, p. 84
After the first couple of years in recovery, most of us start to feel like there are no more big deals. If we've been diligent in working the steps, the past is largely resolved and we have a solid foundation on which to build our future. We've learned to take life pretty much as it comes. Familiarity with the steps allows us to resolve problems almost as quickly as they arise.
Once we discover this level of comfort, we may tend to treat it as a "rest stop" on the recovery path. Doing so, however, discounts the nature of our disease. Addiction is patient, subtle, progressive, and incurable. It's also fatal--we can die from this disease, unless we continue to treat it. And the treatment for addiction is a vital, ongoing program of recovery.
The Twelve Steps are a process, a path we take to stay a step ahead of our disease. Meetings, sponsorship, service, and the steps always remain essential to ongoing recovery. Though we may practice our program somewhat differently with five years clean than with five months, this doesn't mean the program has changed or become less important, only that our practical understanding has changed and grown. To keep our recovery fresh and vital, we need to stay alert for opportunities to practice our program.
Just for Today: As I keep growing in my recovery, I will search for new ways to practice my program.
Copyright (c) 2007-2023, NA World Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Below are some of my favorite reads, I personally couldn't put them down.
The Community
My name is Amanda, in case the website name didn't already tell you that haha. I have been a part of my sober sisters and brothers for more than a year now. Throughout my time spent with my fellow crazy, fun-loving friends, I am so proud to say we are a community. We lift up each other when one is down and we are always a phone call away.
In the fabric of our lives, collective strength shines through when individuals choose to connect and offer steadfast support. It's the shared laughter that pushes back the shadows of doubt, the outstretched hands that break a fall, and the whispered encouragement that fuels a weary spirit.
People, in their beautiful diversity, possess an innate capacity to lift one another, to shoulder burdens together, and to illuminate paths that would otherwise remain shrouded in darkness. This unity, this act of lifting, isn't just a fleeting moment; it's a testament to the enduring power of human connection, a reminder that we are stronger together than we could ever be alone.
Help is available, NO SHAME!!
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Substance use support
In Crisis?
In times of increased stress and uncertainty, these resources can help provide much-needed support.
I need to talk to someone. Who can I call if I am going through a crisis?
You are not alone. Reach out to the following support hotlines for immediate help. If you have an emergency, please dial 911.
- Text HELLO to 741741 to speak with a compassionate, trained Crisis Counselor. Confidential support 24/7, for free.
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline: Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
- SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
How can I get access to naloxone?
Most states make naloxone available for purchase in pharmacies without a prescription. Visit Safe Project to read your state's rules on naloxone. Below are a few resources on how to obtain free naloxone kits.
- Visit National Harm Reduction Coalition, a national nonprofit serving people who use drugs. They offer naloxone and syringe access, harm reduction trainings, and connections to local groups.
- Find Naloxone in your state with Recover Together with Google, an interactive tool with helpful addiction resources and naloxone locator.
- Next Distro is an organization focused in advocating for addiction health resources and naloxone distribution in the U.S. They provide free to low-cost Naloxone access all over the nation.
- Free Naloxone Kits in NYC: Obtain Naloxone (Narcan) from a New York City Opioid Overdose Prevention Community-Based Program (PDF).
- Get a FREE Emergency Overdose Rescue Kit from the NYC Emergency Overdose Rescue Kit Program (PDF)
Where can I do a substance test for nonprescribed fentanyl?
Due to individual state laws, rapid fentanyl test strips (FTS) are not widely available. Below are organizations that can assist you further.
- Visit Harmreduction.org, a coalition centered on science-based strategies with and for people who use drugs. Their website provides a breakdown on all you need to know about fentanyl.
- Get free fentanyl test strips from Fent Check, an organization solely focused on providing tests strips in the state of California.
- APLA Health is an organization seeking to bring equitable health care services to members of the LGBT community. They provide free fentanyl test kits in California. Visit https://aplahealth.org/fentanyl/ to learn how to receive yours.
Services, groups, meetings and more below!
Only you can decide whether you want to give A.A. a try. Admitting you might need help, or admitting that you’re an alcoholic, takes courage. Check for upcoming events!
The Narcotics Anonymous message is “that an addict, any addict, can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use and find a new way to live.”
The activities here are incredible! I have done many myself!
Today, an A.A. presence can be found in approximately 180 nations worldwide, with membership estimated at over two million. There are more than 123,000 A.A. groups around the world and A.A.’s literature has been translated into over 100 languages.
A.A. is made up of alcoholics helping alcoholics recover.
Al-Anon Family Groups is another Twelve Step program of recovery. Their members are made up of people concerned with someone’s drinking problem.
In Al-Anon members have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of others who have faced similar problems.
