Saturday 13 July 2013

Alcoholics Anonymous | July 13 | DonInLondon | Step 7 "Courage To Change"


July 13, 2013 step seven in mind: improving our courage to change, faith in doing the next right thing and gaining confidence as we learn new ways to live. I was listening and watching a program about people who had become obese early in their lives. It seemed they ate when they were happy, would eat more when they were fearful, angry and resentful, and the same is true for any extreme attitude and behaviour. A substance, a place, a thing and people can be the triggers which put us in extreme situations… Everyone learns a way to deal with life, and these days I prefer courage, faith and confidence to be part of my personal skills one day at a time.

Many years ago, I had a stint in rehab. I wasn't particularly thin back then, but some people were so emaciated their bones could be seen under the skin. Quite quickly, without the addiction substance being available, many gained weight and I think I did too. It is so easy to find ourselves letting go one addiction, only to find that we can fix on other things. Lucky me in the end, I got a habit for Fellowship and the 12 steps and 12 traditions. They do dominate my life and outlook: Fellowship, 12 steps and 12 traditions has helped me put life into practice in a completely different way to the way I lived. The company of others, some principles and a deeper awareness has opened the door to absolutely wonderful times and freedom. Of course the wonderful times and freedom are offset by the downtimes and the bad and ugly we all encounter in life. The best news is knowing the difference and finding acceptance of life as it is rather than some imagined scenario certainly beyond my wildest dreams.

One of the chips that I found in circulation within the Fellowship there is the phrase or "being rocketed into the fourth dimension." The fourth dimension is "time." And being rocketed into the moment of now can be quite a challenge in early days because all we can find often is the raw, bad and ugly of life. If we are rocketed into the fourth dimension and live in the moment of now certainly everything speeds up, especially when you get to my age, where the balance of life has passed halfway. The good news is, living in the moment of now is far better than being stuck in a historical mess or dreaming of a future which is beyond human grasp. Good bad or ugly, indeed life in the moment is far better raw, vivid and transparent. Better than before: when we processed our living through the bottom of the glass; denial and the old decline into nowhere land.

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