V
08-02-2006, 09:55 AM
(...) anonymous addict writes:
"I just want to feel good about myself again"
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
V writes:
"The chief activator of our defects has been a self-centered
fear-primarily that we would lose something we already possessed or
would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of
unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and
frustrations Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a
means of reducing these demands." page 76 of AA's 12 & 12 -
In Buddhism there are the Three Unwholesome Roots of: Delusion, Greed
and Hate. Out of these three, DELUSION is the foundational root, for
without seeing delusions for what they are, you cannot distinguish the
other two unwholesome roots of greed and hate. Many persons suffer from
delusion, especially addicts.
I found that developing self worth was s simple and natural byproduct
of 'just being' as long as I was able to 'be at peace' within and with
all. You see, peace is our birthright, if we are not destroying it by
our own actions. In order to slow down enough to be able to use peace
as a tool I needed to apply simplicity, renunciation and gratitude to
my life. In short, I needed to stop destroying the peace, accept
gratefully my comfortable abilities and just let peace surface
naturally. As I have always told you: "you are not recovering until you
start refusing ~ refusing the old, sick life that got you here."
This is done by accepting and living comfortably within your means or
as the 12 and 12 of AA calls it 'living right size' Of course, if we
are full of internal battles of delusion, greed, hatred, envy, self
pity, dishonesty, ill will, pride and the like there can be no peace.
But, even if we win the battles over such tendencies and emotions, we
can still destroy our peace with excesses in other areas that may seem
good in substance, but we take them to excess and destroy our peace and
life with. If you wish to feel good about yourself, then live within
your comfortable means no matter how meager and gratefully accept your
comfortable capabilities...it all stems on how comfortable or
uncomfortable YOU wish to make YOUR life. Notice I stress YOU, as being
uncomfortable is an unavoidable byproduct of living. But when we add to
the fire of being uncomfortable and destroy our own lives, this is
where we chip away at out self worth. No one ever lost self worth due
to it being hot and humid outside. But it is a different story when it
comes to making ourselves sweat through wrong actions that we undertake
to destroy our lives from our own efforts.
Areas we need to be concerned with? To most people 'means' refers to
money. But when I refer to means, I am speaking about all of them;
whether they be financial means, spiritual means, capability means,
energy means, mental or stress means, caloric means, health means,
comfortable space means, time means and most important my recovery
program means. You see there is much more to living a serene, happy and
balanced life than mere money. We each have different means or
capabilities in each area, so don't be concerned with what "he, she or
they" can do, just be mindful of what YOU can abstinently, soberly,
solvently and comfortably do if you wish to be at peace.
"Be who you are and be that well"... as a sign at a girls boarding
school in West Virginia advertised
Good Luck,
V (Male)
For free access to my earlier posts on voluntary simplicity, compulsive
spending, debting, compulsive overeating and clutter write:
vfr44@aol.com. Any opinion expressed here is that of my own and is not
the opinion, recommendation or belief of any group or organization.
"I just want to feel good about myself again"
*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********
V writes:
"The chief activator of our defects has been a self-centered
fear-primarily that we would lose something we already possessed or
would fail to get something we demanded. Living upon a basis of
unsatisfied demands, we were in a state of continual disturbance and
frustrations Therefore, no peace was to be had unless we could find a
means of reducing these demands." page 76 of AA's 12 & 12 -
In Buddhism there are the Three Unwholesome Roots of: Delusion, Greed
and Hate. Out of these three, DELUSION is the foundational root, for
without seeing delusions for what they are, you cannot distinguish the
other two unwholesome roots of greed and hate. Many persons suffer from
delusion, especially addicts.
I found that developing self worth was s simple and natural byproduct
of 'just being' as long as I was able to 'be at peace' within and with
all. You see, peace is our birthright, if we are not destroying it by
our own actions. In order to slow down enough to be able to use peace
as a tool I needed to apply simplicity, renunciation and gratitude to
my life. In short, I needed to stop destroying the peace, accept
gratefully my comfortable abilities and just let peace surface
naturally. As I have always told you: "you are not recovering until you
start refusing ~ refusing the old, sick life that got you here."
This is done by accepting and living comfortably within your means or
as the 12 and 12 of AA calls it 'living right size' Of course, if we
are full of internal battles of delusion, greed, hatred, envy, self
pity, dishonesty, ill will, pride and the like there can be no peace.
But, even if we win the battles over such tendencies and emotions, we
can still destroy our peace with excesses in other areas that may seem
good in substance, but we take them to excess and destroy our peace and
life with. If you wish to feel good about yourself, then live within
your comfortable means no matter how meager and gratefully accept your
comfortable capabilities...it all stems on how comfortable or
uncomfortable YOU wish to make YOUR life. Notice I stress YOU, as being
uncomfortable is an unavoidable byproduct of living. But when we add to
the fire of being uncomfortable and destroy our own lives, this is
where we chip away at out self worth. No one ever lost self worth due
to it being hot and humid outside. But it is a different story when it
comes to making ourselves sweat through wrong actions that we undertake
to destroy our lives from our own efforts.
Areas we need to be concerned with? To most people 'means' refers to
money. But when I refer to means, I am speaking about all of them;
whether they be financial means, spiritual means, capability means,
energy means, mental or stress means, caloric means, health means,
comfortable space means, time means and most important my recovery
program means. You see there is much more to living a serene, happy and
balanced life than mere money. We each have different means or
capabilities in each area, so don't be concerned with what "he, she or
they" can do, just be mindful of what YOU can abstinently, soberly,
solvently and comfortably do if you wish to be at peace.
"Be who you are and be that well"... as a sign at a girls boarding
school in West Virginia advertised
Good Luck,
V (Male)
For free access to my earlier posts on voluntary simplicity, compulsive
spending, debting, compulsive overeating and clutter write:
vfr44@aol.com. Any opinion expressed here is that of my own and is not
the opinion, recommendation or belief of any group or organization.