52 Weeks of Conscious Contact [Paperback]

Melody Beattie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 2003

What gets in the way of serenity? For most people, the answer is life--those everyday distractions, obligations, and frustrations that cause chaos and clutter. In her new week- by-week guidebook, best-selling self-help author Melody Beattie brings new hope to individuals longing to lead a more serene life.

Organized as weekly collections of stories, meditations, and suggestions, 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact addresses key self-care issues, including how to nurture inner peace, when to reach out to others, how to carry through on good intentions, where to make time for fun, and how to cultivate a deeper prayer life. Beattie's thoughtful prose and practical advice provide new opportunities for reflection, affirmation, and change.

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Beattie was a struggling single parent of two children and freelance author and journalist cranking out stories for a small-town daily newspaper in 1986 when she came up with a book idea. She wanted to write a book about what happens to people when they love someone who is addicted to alcohol and other drugs."There were many books out there about how to help an addict or alcoholic. Nobody was talking about how an addict impacts the lives of the people around him or her, and how crazy you can become when you love someone who is addicted," Beattie said. "Even though I was sober, I didn't know how crazy I could get until it happened to me." Twenty publishers turned down Beattie's book proposal. "It's a good idea, but we don't think there's that many codependents out there," they wrote back.Hazelden, however, a treatment center and recovery publisher based in Minnesota, saw a need for the book. The publisher understood how families of alcoholics suffer and believed Beattie's book idea would help people. Beattie marched to the welfare department, asked for enough financial help to make it through the three months it would take her to write the book, then locked herself in a basement office and cranked out Codependent No More. Codependent No More has now sold 3.5 million copies. Beattie has since written nine more books, five for major publishing houses on the east and west coasts. She relocated from Minnesota to California, and she has long-since paid back the welfare department. Beattie has appeared in the pages of Newsweek and People and has been a regular guest on Geraldo and Oprah. Playing It By Heart is Beattie's first original book for Hazelden since 1990; the book is a return to her recovery roots that first brought her national recognition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Hazelden; 1St Edition edition (January 8, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568388802
• ISBN-13: 978-1568388809
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melody Beattie is one of America's most beloved self-help authors and a household name in addiction and recovery circles. Her international bestselling book, Codependent No More, introduced the world to the term "codependency" in 1986. Millions of readers have trusted Melody's words of wisdom and guidance because she knows firsthand what they're going through. In her lifetime, she has survived abandonment, kidnapping, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, divorce, and the death of a child. "Beattie understands being overboard, which helps her throw bestselling lifelines to those still adrift," said Time Magazine.

Melody was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1948. Her father left home when she was a toddler, and she was raised by her mother. She was abducted by a stranger at age four. Although she was rescued the same day, the incident set the tone for a childhood of abuse, and she was sexually abused by a neighbor throughout her youth. Her mother turned a blind eye, just as she had denied the occurrence of abuse in her own past.

"My mother was a classic codependent," Melody recalls. "If she had a migraine, she wouldn't take an aspirin because she didn't do drugs. She believed in suffering." Unlike her mother, Melody was determined to self-medicate her emotional pain. Beattie began drinking at age 12, was a full-blown alcoholic by age 13, and a junkie by 18, even as she graduated from high school with honors. She ran with a crowd called "The Minnesota Mafia" who robbed pharmacies to get drugs. After several arrests, a judge mandated that she had to "go to treatment for as long as it takes or go to jail."

Melody continued to score drugs in treatment until a spiritual epiphany transformed her. "I was on the lawn smoking dope when the world turned this purplish color. Everything looked connected--like a Monet painting. It wasn't a hallucination; it was what the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous calls 'a spiritual awakening.' Until then, I'd felt entitled to use drugs. I finally realized that if I put half as much energy into doing the right thing as I had into doing wrong, I could do anything," Beattie said.

After eight months of treatment, Melody left the hospital clean and sober, ready to take on new goals: helping others get sober, and getting married and having a family of her own. She married a former alcoholic who was also a prominent and respected counselor and had two children with him. Although she had stopped drinking and using drugs, she found herself sinking in despair. She discovered that her husband wasn't sober; he'd been drinking and lying about it since before their marriage.

During her work with the spouses of addicts at a treatment center, she realized the problems that had led to her alcoholism were still there. Her pain wasn't about her husband or his drinking; it was about her. There wasn't a word for codependency yet. While Melody didn't coin the term codependency, she became passionate about the subject. What was this thing we were doing to ourselves?

Driven into the ground financially by her husband's alcoholism, Melody turned a life-long passion for writing into a career in journalism, writing about the issues that had consumed her for years. Her 24-year writing career has produced fifteen books published in twenty languages and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. She has been a frequent guest on many national television shows, including Oprah. She and her books continue to be featured regularly in national publications including Time, People, and most major periodicals around the world.

Although it almost destroyed her when her twelve-year-old son Shane died in a ski accident in 1991, eventually Melody picked up the pieces of her life again. "I wanted to die, but I kept waking up alive," she says. She began skydiving, mountain-climbing, and teaching others what she'd learned about grief.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A daily inspiration, September 7, 2004

By 

Barbara A. Blum "on a personal journey" (Las Vegas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact (Paperback)

I love this book! As I've been going through a personal crisis, I have been reading various books and this one has hit home for me. Each chapter that I read seems to speak directly to me with concise but uplifting words. I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with their faith and is looking for support.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding meditations, July 9, 2008

By 

Ronald Easton (Castro Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact (Paperback)

The author gives real life examples for when the particular "Value" is applicable. Then she gives us Application, Challenges we may face, personal Inventory Focus, Action to take, Gratitude Focus for the value and finishes with a Prayer. These don't need to be done one week at a time. Use any that may apply at any time. In fact, I could hardly stop reading and learning. I not only get great personal insight and results from these meditations I also lead a meditation group weekly and occasionally bring these ideas to the floor with very good results for the members as well. Thank you Melody.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a healing read, October 25, 2008

By 

J. Burnett - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact (Paperback)

I've been a fan of Melody Beattie's books for many years. Her uncomplicated, warm voice has often been a port in my stormy recovery from CoDa, ACA and substance abuse issues. This journal has been helpful as a weekly/daily study tool, or sometimes I just play roulette with it, randomly opening to a page to receive a message that I need that in that moment. In any event, I always receive a healing meditation.