Tom Catton - The Mindful Addict: A Memoir of the Awakening of a Spirit

PRAISE FOR

The Mindful Addict

When I picked up Toms book and started reading it, I couldnt put it down. This is an outstanding book and promises to enrich anyones recovery regardless of whether they are a newcomer or a long-timer. Toms inspiring journey, his gut-wrenching honesty, and his commitment to living a conscious and mindful life reveal the true nature of the process of recovery.

The seeds to Toms recovery were planted well before he put together any serious time clean. It has been stated that recovery is dependent upon a spiritual experience set on a pedestal of hopelessness. Clearly Toms pain and suffering spawned a spiritual awakening. But he didnt do it alone. In recovery we learn that We can do what I cant. Tom had a very special person in his life, Flobird. Through Toms story you will meet this remarkable woman. I like to think of her as Toms spiritual midwife. She and many others helped Tom build a very strong foundation for his recovery.

Tom has taken his spiritual wounds and his addiction, and transformed them into sacred wounds. This is the direct result of his commitment to go to any lengths to stay clean and his willingness and courage to listen to the voice within.

Tom has given us a wonderful gift in The Mindful Addict by sharing his experience, fears, strength, and hope. Thank you, Tom!

Allen Berger, Ph.D.

Author of 12 Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery: AvoidingRelapse through Self-Awareness and Right Action and 12 Smart Thingsto Do When the Booze and Drugs Are Gone: Choosing EmotionalSobriety through Self-Awareness and Right Action

I picked up Tom Cattons manuscript one afternoon and decided to read the book right away. I found it engrossing and insightful. I finished the book that evening, and I can vouch for its authenticity as I was one of Flobirds traveling birds. Tom offers hope and inspiration about how to navigate through life before and after recovery. May many lives be touched by Toms journey and learn the meaning of being happy and grateful in recovery and in service to others.

Reverend Deborah Knowles
Unity Church of Kona-Kohala, Kona, Hawaii

Everyones life is a drama; Tom Cattons is a true adventure. Not only is The Mindful Addict an adventure in recovery; it is an adventure in discovery. What Tom finds, and what he helps all of us find, is the glorious truth about ourselves and the world in which we live. Tom knows what it is to hit rock bottom, and he has graced us all with a book that is completely rock solid.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro
Author of RecoveryThe Sacred Art:
The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice

So much is made of the question Are we always in a state of recovery, or can we ever fully recover from addiction? With The Mindful Addict, Tom Catton does as good a job as I have seen of dispatching this meaningless question. Here is a book that will give you the practical tools you need to live fully in the moment, a moment that is eternally revealing itself to us. All we need do is pay attention. Simple, but far from easy, of course. But if you are serious about recovery, this is a path worth choosing. And I highly recommend Tom Catton as one of your guides.

Thom Rutledge
Author of Embracing Fear: How to Turn
What Scares Us into Our Greatest Gift

Many search for spiritual enlightenment, but few have survived the path Tom Catton details in The Mindful Addict. This is a beautiful tale of one souls long journey back from the brink of a life immersed in alcohol and drugs. Along the way, Tom discovers the key to his survival is complete surrender to a higher source. I highly recommend surrendering to The Mindful Addict and letting the awakening of your spirit begin as well.

Randolph J. Rogers
Author of The Key of Life:
A Metaphysical Investigation

THE
MINDFUL
ADDICT

A Memoir of

the Awakening

of a Spirit

BY TOM CATTON

CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS

Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral health care, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and Web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, it seeks to impact the behavioral health care field with a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals, and their families.

For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.

Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, NV 89129
2010 by Tom Catton

eISBN-13: 978-1-936290-44-4
eISBN-10: 1-936290-44-8

All rights reserved. Published 2010. Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

16 15 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5

Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3371 N. Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129

Cover design and interior by Sara Streifel, Think Creative Design

Editors Note: The Mindful Addict is based on real events to the best of the authors recollection. To protect the anonymity of those mentioned in this book, some names and identifying details have been changed.

To my loving wife Bea Austin. To my
daughter Celeste and son-in-law Joe, and
to my son Josh and his lovely wife Khym.
To my six wonderful grandchildren, Sage,
Hayley, Sydney, Kyan, Hunter, and Shea.
To my parents. And, of course, to Flobird.

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE
THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER TWO
THE MIRACLE

CHAPTER THREE
THE GIFT

CHAPTER FOUR
THE JOURNEY BEGINS

CHAPTER FIVE
SOUL MATES

CHAPTER SIX
SPIRITUAL GYPSY

CHAPTER SEVEN
ON WE GO WITH THE COSMIC SHOW

CHAPTER EIGHT
SHOWING UP

CHAPTER NINE
GUIDANCE: FOLLOW YOUR HEART

CHAPTER TEN
CHALLENGES/GIFTS

CHAPTER ELEVEN
HOLY PEOPLE AND
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES

CHAPTER TWELVE
THE PRACTICE, THE DHARMA

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE STEPS

FOREWORD

The Mindful Addict isnt the typical recovery memoir. Where most such stories start to fizzle out after the hero emerges from the drama and horror of addiction, Toms just gets going. Sure, his years of drug addiction are compelling to read about, but its in his recovery that the story takes off. When he got clean as the sixties turned to the seventies, drugs and charismatic hucksters pervaded the spiritual scene, and his guide into recovery, Flobird, reads more like one of those trippy cult leaders than any twelve-step sponsor Ive ever heard ofbut she