Emerging Strength

08/26/2026

At Emerging Strength we get clients that have already tried other types of rehab and recovery and after a while find that something is missing.

Their concerns are challenging to identify they did all the steps, went to all the meetings, made all the network connections, and made personal changes. This was working until it wasn't.

So last week, while talking with a client in this position, a better system emerged. It goes something like this:

Life is like a river and you are navigating it's waters across your lifespan. Sometimes the water is flat and calm and peaceful. Other times it's whitewater with rapid change and dangerous conditions. The water can change in a moments notice. Your approach can always adapt to the changing conditions.

In recovery, as in life, we must have a flexible and workable approach for dealing with an uncertain and changing world. Under these circumstances rigid rules, guidelines, and slogans simply don't flex.

As you are going about your business of living remember, you've never been through this exact thing. Show yourself some kindness. Don't be too judgmental. See the world for what it is now. And move toward your most important values under the circumstances.

Try your hand at a real paddling experience and see if teaches you something. Here are some great places to tryout.

Hiwassee River, East Tennessee
South Fork Shenandoah River, Virginia
Lower Pigeon River, East Tennessee
Middle Youghiogheny, Pennsylvania
Upper Delaware River, New York/Pennsylvania
San Marcos Rivet, Texas
French Broad River, North Carolina/Tennessee
Nantahala River, North Carolina
Upper Deschutes River, Oregon

08/25/2026

Cases of 'scromiting' condition tied to cannabis use spike among teens, young adults: New study

The syndrome has long been linked to chronic use of ma*****na.

08/23/2026

What's the first thing most people try to change their relationship to alcohol?

It isn't rehab.

Most people think that rehab is for junkies and the worst kind of alcoholic.

At Emerging Strength we see things differently. When you want to change your relationship to alcohol, you try to drink differently. It's important that people find ways to support change early on and to find something workable. Something they can live with, something repeatable.

Finding your strength and building a life you love is all about who you are and living aligned with your values. Sometimes that can be supported by alcohol use and sometimes it is not. Life is complicated like that.

Moderation Management, says that,

"Moderate drinking isn’t about following someone else’s rules—it’s about finding a level of alcohol use that supports your health, relationships, and the life you want to live."

Want to learn more:

Moderation Management is a peer-support community helping people change their relationship with alcohol through moderation or abstinence.

08/07/2026

Have you ever felt like a diagnosis completely missed the point of your actual life?

Doctor: "Your cholesterol is slightly above normal. We need to start treatment."
78-Year-Old Patient: "Can you just help me have a better quality of life with the time I have left?"
Doctor: "That’s not how the protocol works."

For decades, mental health care has operated under this exact same "disease model." It treats human suffering like a defective machine part, focusing on labels, codes, and protocols instead of optimal living.

What if we traded the diagnostic label for a process of change?

Instead of asking, "What disease do you have?", imagine a practitioner asking: "What matters most to you, and what tools will help you get there?"

No stigma. No shame. No "root defect"—just a functioning human being learning better ways to navigate a tough world.

Have you ever felt trapped or limited by a medical or mental health label? Drop your story below.

07/29/2026

Have you ever wondered if you will ever get out of your own way?

Many of us struggle with a devil, a sticky habit, or being our own worst enemy. For whatever reasons we have, these traps can bite hard and keep us stuck in a loop for a long long time.

Traps are effective because they are hidden, dynamic, and programmed to maintain the status quo or loop itself, and when the trap is sprung, we are often caught in it and consumed by it. We never saw it coming.

After years and years of this sort of thing we don't just think, oh I see it now, I can get out of this. No. We think, I see it now and there is nothing I can do. I have tried to change so many times, I am powerless.

But this isn't true. It's what our psycho-logic has convinced us is fact. This is why the traps are so effective, they change with the dynamics of life to keep us in a static loop for ease of living.

If you are interested in a movie that takes on this kind of difficult change, check this out...

Gambler Jake Green enters into a game with potentially deadly conse...

07/15/2026

I want to share a couple things today. Our lives are about the business of many important things. The business of feeling productivity, doing meaningful things, funding our lifestyle and future, relationships, family, community, well being, and more.

That's a lot of businesses to be about when life comes at us. We talk a lot about how to deal with life, cope with stress, and much of each and every day seems like a treadmill of coping with one thing after another. This can be and feel intolerable.

The secret to building a better life is counter intuitive. The secret is to experience the intolerable. It has data to inform and guide us. But we will miss that data if we avoid the intolerable and we will put ourselves on the treadmill of coping, coping, coping.

Coping is not living. Let me explain further.

The essence of addiction is an attempt to manage the intolerable stuff that we cannot avoid any other way. So when you are tired of the coping treadmill you are vulnerable to addictive substances.

Here are 3 things you can do to successfully move toward the businesses of your life.

First, sit with the intolerable and listen to what it is telling you. Listening is safe. It might feel uncomfortable or stir up more intolerable things, but it is safe to sit and listen.

Second, reflect on the businesses of your life. What's working and what's missing the mark in your opinion. For example, you might have aspirations for a lifestyle your income will not and cannot afford. That touches several businesses of life and indicates that each one needs your attention in order to produce your desired outcome.

Third, don't spend your time stuck and spinning your wheels. There are very specific ways to build and operate the businesses of life. The most important resource you have is time, don't lose it to uncertainty, being stuck, or experiences that feel like anchors holding you back.

At Emerging Strength Life Coaching and Counseling we help people navigate the businesses of life. We do this with a research backed evidence based approach to all the stuff humans have to deal with. It's less talk and more action. So you can grow in meaningful ways toward a life you love.

If you think life coaching could help you, check out our website emergingstrength.com.

05/23/2026

Wanting wanting wanting.

Most people struggle with a desire for consumption. Could be alcohol, drugs, s*x, attention, complicated coffee, cars, and so much more.

Some if this is about getting relief from things we don't feel any control over. There are many reasons to gain mastery over your desires for more.

Figure out what's really important to you and stop wasting resources on what's unimportant. If it doesn't matter to you, then let it go. Concentrate resources elsewhere.

The average car payment in 2026 is $785. The graph below, explains one reason why all this wanting, wanting, wanting costs you a future. What does your future self really need you from you right now?

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18uqYwdfBA/

📊 Investing $1,000 a month at 7% annual growth, the first $100K takes about 79 months to reach.

The second $100K arrives in roughly 54 months, because the $100K already invested is now compounding alongside new contributions.

By $200K, the acceleration is visible: the third $100K takes 41 months, the fourth takes 33 months.

The 14th milestone, from $1.3M to $1.4M, takes under 12 months.

At $1.9M, the portfolio generates approximately $11,000 a month in growth at 7% annual returns.

That puts the 20th milestone, from $1.9M to $2M, at roughly 8 months.

The first $100K takes nearly 10 times longer to earn than the last.

This assumes a consistent 7% annual return with contributions reinvested and no withdrawals.

Sequence of returns risk means the actual timeline near retirement can vary significantly from these projections.



P.S. Every Friday I send a short email with the week's top post, my take on the best article I read, and what I'm writing about on the site. Link in the comments.

The content shared here is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not personalized investment, tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a licensed professional before making decisions based on your specific situation.

05/22/2026

For years I have noticed people with anxiety often gravitate to cleaning and organizing. This article discusses that pretty well.

A Simple Chore Could Help Calm Your Mind, And It's Popular With Zen Monks : ScienceAlert

It's spring cleaning season, and for some people that can mean drudgery or anxiety.

05/06/2026

Been thinking about how we get lost sometimes, in our thoughts, feelings, memories, judgments, and expectations. And wanted to share a resource that I have appreciated.

This book, is written in a way that can be really helpful. When you are not sure where you stand. For example:

Chapter 1: Places We Go When Things Are Uncertain
Chapter 5: Places We Go When Things Aren't What They Seem

I find that personally and professionally, this "not knowing where you stand" is happening more and more often to all of us. AND there are things you can do about it.

The first thing I do is figure out what I am feeling. Like a lot of people that usually starts with "ok" or "I don't know". Those are not feelings. So I keep working.

The second thing I do, is the ACT Matrix. And if I am still unclear about where I stand, I go back to Brene Brown's, Atlas of the Heart. It has been really helpful.

We find our strength when we understand where we stand and how that shapes our feelings.

04/23/2026

Relationships can be complicated.

Do you find that in your relationship you or your partner is frequently the least interested in something (s*x, where to eat, cleaning the house, planning a vacation)?

The least interested party is the one who holds the most power.

It makes you wonder about the social contract between the parties. And as a fallout of that, the viability of the relationship.

Be cautious, this pattern can destroy relationships.

Learn to share the remote, plan together, validate feelings you don't understand. Try saying, yes and before that let's try...