Episode Details

"You can't imagine your life without it, but you desperately want to let it go."

This is addiction as defined by today's guest, Fr. Tom Hoar, President + CEO of Enders Island Retreat Center, a treatment facility that helps addicted adults. More than seven million Americans struggle with some form of addiction.

Today, Fr. Tom debunks an often-taboo topic by sharing stories of redemption and healing – including his own. Don't miss this critical conversation or the life-changing intent behind Fr. Tom's poignant question "have you had enough?"

SHOW NOTES

• Fr. Tom references Jean Valjean's story in Les Miserables and how it reminds us that the best days remain in front of us.
• We live in a society where we are too ready to judge others and write them off instead of allowing them to show us who they really are.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.: Be known for the content of your character.
• According to Cigna's Loneliness Index, almost half of Americans feel isolated or lonely, and those struggling with addiction or any mental challenge often feel alone in the room of a hundred people.
• To combat addiction, we need a healthy sense of self.
  • We've filled our lives with noise + stuff, but it's not the noise + stuff that gives us meaning.
  • We've taken God and the sense of the sacred out of our society; causing a loss of inner self-awareness and contentment.
  • Genesis 1:26: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
• After Fr. Tom stopped drinking, he felt empty until being introduced to Alcoholic Anonymous.
  • Alcoholic Anonymous meetings offer a sense of authenticity + genuineness where people are sharing their story of experience, strength and hope.
  • Addiction is a disease that has physical, emotional and spiritual components.
• Allow people to grow, develop + learn. Accept them for who they are today.
• Fr. Tom's poignant question "have you had enough?": Are you ready to really let go of the way you've been living, thinking and really allow God's grace to bring you down a new path, a path of healing and hope?
• Read a Boston Globe article about Fr. Tom Hoar here.
• Learn more about Alcoholics Anonymous here.

Thank you to my dear friend, Live Inspired community member Mary B. for recommending Fr. Tom Hoar! If you have questions or feedback, you can always send them to me and my team at podcast@johnolearyinspires.com.

If you enjoyed today's episode, Live Inspired Podcast guests Teri Griege share her story of overcoming addition on ep. 2 and Fr. Jim Martin on discovering our best life on ep. 57.

FR. TOM HOAR'S LIVE INSPIRED 7

1. What is the best book you've ever read? The Gospel of Matthew. It challenges us not to live minimally but to strive for the life of virtue.

2. What is