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Our decision making seems fueled at times by this need to relieve distress rather than the intrinsic value of what we are seeking. As a result we are guarded against those that we perceive will reject us or be negative to us, harm us in some way and we seek to dominate these folk or we are dependent on those who are kind to us, help us and care for us. We are in a sense co-dependent on other people for our sense of esteem.
It’s the “spiritual malady”, as manifested by my EGO (selfishness-self-centeredness), that can eventually lead me back to drinking or sometimes even suicide. The struggle for anyone with a substance use disorder is that the focus, outside of treatment and 12-Step meetings, is typically on the substance. What we learn in recovery is that the problem centers in the mind. There is an obsessive quality and an emotional sensitivity, often experienced in childhood, that later has the possibility of turning to an obsession to seek solace from the way they feel. Lacking the tools to manage pain, disappointment, and resentment in a healthy way, the mind obsessively seeks the only solution to the problem that has yet worked, which is a mind or mood-altering substance. This same obsessive nature causes those with a substance use disorder to instinctively seek other things for relief from their thoughts. Often, before ever using a substance, they were bright students, picked up hobbies that they were able to develop into amazing talents or ambitious employees that were able to vertically ascend with ease.
A Higher Power And Our Spiritual Awakening
Once we are aware of these feelings we can begin the real work on ourselves. It is not easy to do so but recognizing this aspect of alcoholism forces us to take an honest look in the mirror at our behaviors and attitudes towards life and other people. If we do not get spiritually connected with meditation or prayer with a power greater than us it will bring us closer and closer to that drink or drug. In sobriety, if we are self-reliant we usually end up using anything that will make us feel good externally excessively.
Old timers and recovering people with more experience can explain in layman’s terms just what the author Bill W. Was trying to relay in a far more easily digestible fashion. For many struggling with alcohol use disorder or alcohol addiction, the only way to overcome these feelings is to embark upon a spiritual program of action fearlessly.
Learn why honesty is a critical characteristic in sobriety and recovery. We begin to obsess and buy the lie because we want to feel the ease and comfort of the first drink. We drink and set off the craving and the cycle of addiction starts all over again.
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There are no individualistic programs or people simply doing their own thing, it is a collective program of action. Now at least I can see how I react and can take steps to deal with it. The most beautiful thing about me most days is the fruits of my recovery. I relate to my fellow human beings when I am not in fear or shame.
It was like a emotion web that ensnared one in increasingly frustrating states of emotional distress and inappropriate responding. Sometimes others expel the same negative emotions on to us. I spiritual malady have found this a fairly common trait among male alcoholics in recovery settings and meetings. I want to make clear to members that these thoughts are not definitive treatise on the subjects.
- Or rather what emotions he is experiencing at any particular time.
- I want to make clear to members that these thoughts are not definitive treatise on the subjects.
- He spent my whole life running from being an Indian now He spend a good part of my life seeking out the culture and his heritage.
- Also we need to be aware what we project on to other alcoholics is the same thing as they project on to use and sometimes we project if back.
Dismissing others like us for having what we have and acting as we do is like a form of self loathing. We have to forgive ourselves and each other for being ill. Self compassion allows us to be compassionate towards others. For example there is an undercurrent in fear of things being taken away, of it being because we are not good enough, deserving enough, have failed in some way, which are shame based reactions.
No Power, No Choice
This blog is about my journey towards a life grounded in balance, gratitude, creativity, and love. Greater than the mind is reason; and greater than reason is He – the spirit in man and in all. What Power is it that drives a man to act sinfully, even unwillingly, as if powerlessly. Part of the problem may lie in not being specific enough about what alcoholism is. How do you prepare for life after treatment, and what kind of help do you need? Ever wonder what a chronic relapser is and how they can affect your family? The common way to get this transformational change in your psyche is by doing the 12 Steps that are written in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
- Today this would be termed “despite negative consequences”.
- There is an obsessive quality and an emotional sensitivity, often experienced in childhood, that later has the possibility of turning to an obsession to seek solace from the way they feel.
- The solution to your alcoholism is the same as the solution to their alcoholism.
My experience is that they are always removed and that we are immediately restored to sanity. I would have found this threatening to my sense of self so I would have reacted via defense mechanisms. I would have strangely blamed this person for making me feel the way I did! Even if this person had no such intention of hurting my feelings I would blame him nonetheless via my defensive reactions. The newcomer gave me an example of a resentment he was experiencing after this guy at a meeting said “get off your pink cloud” a phrase that refers to the sometimes mildly ecstatic feelings of early recovery.
Pope Francis Urges Catholics To Follow gods Logic
The 12-Steps focus on addressing and fixing the spiritual problems that led us into our addiction, and by doing so, we find that they allow us to positively change our mental and physical issues. At Oceanfront Recovery, our team of addiction treatment professionals understands how to approach alcohol addiction as the chronic disease it is. We offer extensive detox and therapies to help individuals address the physical aspects of the disease as well as the psychological and spiritual aspects. There are certain benefits that can be healthy when a person obsessively seeks development and self-improvement. The first of these is that individuals that are seeking to better themselves in one way or another are often eager to learn and thus open to the experience. This allows individuals to be flexible and open-minded in their pursuit of more knowledge that can assist them in their quest for better knowledge.
- The mature way to to access, identfiy and label how one is feeling and use this information to reasonably express how one is feeling.
- I had studied Emmett Fox, The Course in Miracles and was a card-carrying member of the Self-Realization Fellowship .
- Millions of lives have been saved not to mention the lasting benefits it has brought to families, and societies once harmed by alcoholism.
- Who has been where you have been, felt how you have felt.
“The principles of the programme of Alcoholics Anonymous are scientific and closely follow all the helping therapies which lead people to emotional well-being. This emotional immaturity is referenced throughout the Big Book I believe. It was 80 years ago, so our knowledge base has moved on greatly from when the Big Book was written.
Recoverybegins Here
The original power greater than himself, as for millions of alcoholics over the last 80 years is another alcoholic. One recovering alcoholic or a group of recovering alcoholics is a power greater than oneself.
It is in this essence of anticipation of the future, and what it is imagined to hold, that stops so many from living the purpose they were born to live. Anyone can be spiritually maladapted, but as an alcoholic, we use alcohol to deal with having a spiritual malady. Many people say that alcoholics have a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. The sin disease idea became the “spiritual malady” of AA. Secondly, listing all the negative emotions I had when I held a resentment against someone was very revealing in that when I held a resentment, any resentment, and against a wide variety of people, the negative emotions listed where generally the same! In fact they were all interlinking in a pattern of emotional reacting, one activating the other.
The basic tenet of this, is that it takes one alcoholic to help another alcoholic achieve sobriety. This has been https://ecosoberhouse.com/ borne out in millions of cases around the world. Today this would be termed “despite negative consequences”.
Pope Francis: Put Forgiveness And Mercy At The Heart Of Your Life
If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values. If you or someone you love is struggling with addiction help is available 24/7. Spiritually, we have a difficult time connecting to a higher power. It is common to find yourself being angry at God or saying things like “if God was real this wouldn’t have happened to me” or not understanding why things are the way they are. Otherwise we have not really completely treated our alcoholism.
The worried or rebellious anticipation of the future is a cue to bring the focus back to seeking physical abstinence and motivations for doing so. In sobriety, it is so important to maintain conscious contact with a higher power and count our blessings. Being spiritually maladapted can come from a lack of gratitude. We must live our lives selflessly and show our gratitude to a higher power for the lives that we live and the opportunity to have a second chance at life. As we work towards this state of selflessness we find that we are slowly being relieved of the hopeless alcoholic state we once thought we were doomed to be in forever. It is constant maintenance of being spiritually connected with a god of your understanding. Whenever you find yourself feeling irritable discontent bored with your life or depressed it is likely that you may have skipped meditation or prayer.