Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting!: A Bridge From Addiction To Early… (utgåvan 2009)

I recently read this very interesting book written about the first stages of recovery from addiction, from the real life journey and journals of the author, Robert Boich. Boich is graduated with a law degree from Ohio Northern University and practices law in addition to raising his children in Dublin, Ohio. At the time the book was written the writer was experiencing his first 6 months of recovery from alcohol and cocaine addiction. He was in outpatient treatment and kept a journal that became the outline for this book. The title “Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting. A Bridge From Addiction to Early Recovery” is attention-grabbing and accurately makes and impression that the content lives up to.

I think this book was very well written and I found it very interesting the way the author wrote his steps to sobriety into the book in present tense, giving validation and acceptance of where he was at the time of his many breakthroughs and then went on to elaborate on his progress in acknowledging the many different changes taking place in his life. I received this book because I (like most) have witnessed or experienced some form of addiction with myself and those in my life…I also want to study to be a drug/alcohol addiction counselor in the future. I’ve written about addiction many times in this blog and I have many seen how this illness affects so many aspects of our society that I feel it is so important that a book of this nature exists. I found it very easy to relate personally to the struggles of the author (though not in detail or literal terms) and to see others more clearly through the lens of this thorough examination of addiction recovery.

There are several really important points made in this book that resonate strongly. The first being the difference between abstinence and sobriety. The author tells the story of of his first weeks of sobriety and all the changes he had to make to come to a new realization and reality with his illness. One of the second points made is that in order to change his life he had to change everything…namely his ways of dealing with and seeing life. He shows the many challenges and events that lead him to learning to change his view and approach to living.

The author had what would be considered an unconventional idea of recovery… for most who have not dealt with addiction personally. He had the idea that he could do it on his own. To many addicts though, this is common, and the fact that he took action on his plan and tells the story of where it left him and the work he had to do after is a great story for those watching addicted loved ones, as well as those who are trying to plan their own way out and in the first stages of recovery. This book is great at showing that you cannot just will yourself to end an addiction, everyone needs proper support and a lifestyle change to stay sober.

The author does an amazing job at detailing and sifting through the many possible steps towards a sober life that an addict may have to go through. This is also just a great story of transformation that anyone could be inspired by. The writer comes at us(the readers) from a place of humility, vulnerability, gratitude and warmth. This book is not cheesy, it is not self-indulgent, it is not judgmental, there is no bias here. The writer does not suggest that his answers or journey are “right” or the “only way”. He is instead very open-minded, giving open-ended questions while sharing what is currently working for him.

Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting… is full of edgy, raw honesty, a great sense of humor and a detailed, no nonsense approach to the path of recovery and personal transformation through overcoming addiction. Real life stories, real life breakthroughs, real thoughts, real pain, and real love permeates and leaves you with a great sense of inspiration and understanding when reading this book. The author shares his family struggles as he and his wife go about recovery in different ways.

Since there are so many addictions in our modern society I really feel this could be a great book for anyone to read, but it is certainly great for anyone interested in personal development and of course for people dealing with or effected by alcohol or drug addiction. This book is easy to read, a fast read, but very personal, information and full of great stories. For $14.95 you can purchase the book from the publisher’s website, IUniverse and when you’re done hopefully it will inspire you or you can pass it on to someone you’d like to inspire. ( )