Jim Lunsford

Why Life Feels Empty After Early Recovery

Early recovery is loud. Life is unstable. Emotions spike. Consequences are close. Every day feels urgent because it is. There is something to fight, something to resist, something to survive.

Then things start working.

Forecasts Are Not Decisions

Every time a major snowstorm is predicted, I’m reminded of something that has nothing to do with weather.

What Recovery Requires After Sobriety

Sobriety is not recovery. It is the removal of a problem, not the construction of a life.

You Can’t Build a Future While Protecting a Past Identity

You cannot move forward while keeping a backup version of yourself alive.

That is the lie most people never confront.

Freedom and Discipline: Freedom Without Discipline Becomes Chaos

Freedom and discipline are inseparable, even though most people believe freedom will fix them.

They believe once restrictions are gone, once supervision disappears, once pressure lifts, they will finally live the way they always meant to. That belief is comforting. It is also false.

Alignment

Over the last month, a pattern has become impossible to ignore. Nearly every decision I’ve made has been about alignment.

Why This Site Looks the Way It Does

I recently stripped this site down to text.

No hero images.
No funnels.
No performance layers.

Just writing.

Why Relapse After Recovery Happens When Life Gets Better

Most people think relapse happens at rock bottom. They picture a crisis, a breakdown, a moment where everything falls apart at once. That image feels logical, but it’s wrong. Relapse does not usually begin when life is at its worst. It begins when life starts to feel manageable again.

Ownership in Recovery: The Foundation of Change

Recovery doesn’t begin the moment you stop using. It begins the moment you take ownership.

That’s the line that separates who you were from who you’re becoming. Sobriety is the act of quitting. Recovery is the act of building. And building starts when you decide that no one else is responsible for what happens next.

Identity After Rock Bottom

Rock bottom doesn’t break you. It removes everything that was never real. The titles, the comfort, the illusion of control, they all fall away until only truth remains. What’s left is you, stripped of every excuse.