Face the mirror
Drugs, prescriptions, drinking, porn, gambling, whatever has its hooks in you. Nobody gets to judge you here, and nobody has to know. The tools below save only on your own device. The help is free, always.
Read this first
Stopping suddenly can be medically dangerous with alcohol, benzodiazepines, and opioid or other prescription pills. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before you cut back on any of them. Your Story supports recovery. It is not medical care, and it is not a replacement for it.
Call someone
When a relapse is coming, the most important move is to talk to a real person, honestly, right then. Set this up now, while you're steady, so it is one tap later.
Write it now so you don't have to find the words when it's hard.
If you freeze, say one of these
"I'm struggling and I don't want to be alone with it right now."
"I'm about to use. Can you stay on the phone with me?"
"I don't need advice. I just need you to listen."
No one to call?
Call the Alberta Addiction Helpline at 1-866-332-2322, free, 24 hours. Or call or text 988. Peer groups: Narcotics Anonymous, SMART Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous.
My safety plan
Write it now, while you're thinking clearly. Read it when you're not. It saves only on this device, and nobody else sees it.
Stopping suddenly can be dangerous with alcohol, benzodiazepines, and opioid or other prescription pills. Put a doctor in your plan.
Craving right now
A craving rises, peaks, and passes, usually inside fifteen minutes. Your job is to outlast the wave, not win an argument with it.
Quick check first. Cravings hit harder when you're:
Press start, then do the steps below until it hits zero.
- Drink a full glass of water.
- Move your body. The 5 minute shake is made for this.
- Tell someone. Call your person.
- Read your safety plan.
- Write down what happened right before the urge.
Cravings ridden out on this device: 0
Days clear
A slip is not the end of your story. It makes today day 1 again, and the days you already stacked still happened.
Set your start date to begin counting.
What is it costing you?
Put a number on it. Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere.
For gambling, count what you lose, not what you bet.
That is only what it costs in money. It leaves out lost work, health, sleep and the people around you. What would you rather do with that year?
Move
Free. Five minutes or ten, no equipment, and it works on a craving as well as on a bad mood. Your routine and a builder for your own are in here too.
Move for your head
The 10 minute shake
Ten moves, one minute each. Loose, a bit silly, on purpose. Let the breath out through your mouth and make noise if you want to. The point is to shake the stress out of your body, not to look good.
All ten moves
My routine
I am using a power-rod home gym and two 15 lb barbells. They feel heavy right now, so I start light and add a little each session. Three days a week with a rest day between: A, B, A one week, then B, A, B.
How I progress: I pick a resistance where the last two reps of the last set are hard but clean. When I hit the top of the rep range on every set with good form, I add a little next session. If my form falls apart I stay where I am. Moves go slow: about 2 seconds up and 3 seconds down.
Weeks 1 and 2: 2 sets each and stop 3 reps short. Weeks 3 and 4: full sets. Week 5: push the top of each range. Week 6: back to 2 sets and recover, then repeat a bit heavier.
Build your own routine
Answer four questions and get a simple plan using what you actually have. It saves in your own browser so it is there next time.
My progress
Your own log
Private to this browser. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.
Daily check-in
Drugs, prescriptions, and other fixes can make you feel productive while nothing gets finished. This keeps score on the part that counts: what you set out to finish, and whether you did.
Unlock the check-in, idea parking lot, and The story you tell yourself
$2.99, once, for the daily check-in, the idea parking lot, and twelve lessons on rewriting the story you tell yourself, built on the teachings of Neville Goddard. That keeps Your Story running, covers hosting and my time, and I'm not hiding it: it's an investment in yourself. The call button, craving timer, days clear, workouts, helplines, and stories stay free, always.
The unlock is saved on this device. Your answers are never linked to your payment, and nothing you write in the tools is sent to me.
Already paid on another device? Unlock on this device. It runs on trust, so please only use it if you paid.
The story you tell yourself
Twelve lessons on stillness, meditation, and living from within, built on the teachings of Neville Goddard, with six practice tools: a sitting timer, the I AM builder, a guided wind-down for sleep, a revision journal, an inner conversation journal, and 30 days of practice.
Today
Your week
Nothing logged yet.
Idea parking lot
Big idea at midnight? Park it here. Rate it the next sober morning: still good, needs work, or gone.
Spark list
Small things that felt interesting while sober.
Your story
Say what you haven't said out loud. Work, money, your marriage, your temper, the things you're tempted by, the mistakes you made. Men and women are both welcome.
Got it. Thank you for telling us.
A real person reads everything sent here. It isn't live, so a reply can take a day or more.
If you're in crisis right now, call or text 988.
This is peer support, not therapy or medical advice. We don't ask for your name or an account. Our hosting provider (Netlify) stores everything you send and records your IP address and device details with it. We don't ask for your name and we don't use that information, but it exists, so you are not anonymous to the host. Leave out anything you wouldn't want stored, and use a VPN or a public connection if you need more privacy. A recording carries your voice. This box is not monitored live, so nothing here is read in real time. If you're in danger or thinking about ending your life, call or text 988, or call 911.
Read
Short reads. Tap one to open it.
When the money stops and you feel like less of a man
Losing a job or a steady income hits harder than the bills. It hits who you think you are. A lot of guys go quiet, pull back, and act like everything's fine.
What's true
Your worth was never your paycheque. Job loss is one of the most common triggers for depression and stress in men, and staying silent about it makes it heavier.
Try this today
Tell one person the real number, the real situation. Not the polished version. Saying it out loud takes the weight off.
Nobody's checking on you, and you're not checking on anyone
Loneliness sneaks up. Friends drift, work changes, and one day you realize nobody knows how you're actually doing.
What's true
Many men have fewer close friends than they did ten years ago, and most never say it. You're not weird for feeling this. You're normal for not saying it.
Try this today
Send one text to one guy: "Been thinking about you. Want to grab a coffee?" It doesn't have to be deep. It just has to start.
The hurt you cause when you're hurting
When you're struggling, the people closest to you often take the hit: the short temper, the silence, the mistakes you make trying to feel better.
What's true
Explaining isn't the same as excusing. You can understand why you did something and still own the damage it did.
Try this today
Write down one thing you did and who it affected. No excuses in it. Then decide what a real apology would sound like, and what would change.
Keeping it together when you're not okay
You show up, do the job, and say "good" when someone asks. Inside it's a different story.
What's true
Holding it in doesn't make you strong. It makes it last longer. Asking for help is one of the hardest and most useful things a man can do.
Try this today
Next time someone asks how you are, give one honest sentence instead of "fine." See what happens.
More coming. Have a topic you want covered? Put it in the box above.
Stories
Stories from men and women who chose to share, with anything identifying removed. Nothing goes up without a clear yes.
Be the first.
Nothing goes up without a clear yes, and anything that could identify you is removed.
Yours could help someone.
Use the box above and choose "Yes, share it."
Need help now?
If you're thinking about hurting yourself or someone else, don't wait. Call or text.
Reaching out to any of these is a strong move, not a weak one.
See all resources: crisis, addiction, abuse, Indigenous, LGBTQ2S+, and worldwide