M(3), 7/25/16: Into Me See

The literature in this week’s meeting was Forming True Partnerships.  It is the newest book in AA’s conference-approved literature, and it deals with relationships in sobriety.  Some of the chapters are universal:  family, friendships.  Some are semi-specific:  marriage, job.  And some are puzzling in their specificity (I’m looking at you, chapter on pets).

I have been sticking with the universal ones for the first half of the year; today I challenged myself to delve into deeper waters.  The story turned out to be oddly specific, entirely too long and 99% pessimistic.  Note to self:  fully read selection before choosing!

As fate would have it, the room filled up with people, and each person that shared talked about their difficulty in relating.  The very last person who shared, a male (the author of the story was female), redeemed the choice by stating he felt like he was reading his own story.  So there you have it… someone is going to relate, no matter how unlikely it seems!

Odd storylines aside, we had a great discussion about relationships, both pre- and post-recovery.  Every person in the room agreed that the “blueprint” offered through the twelves steps enriches relationships of all kinds.

One person shared the variety of ways he attempted to feel complete:  filling his life with material things, relationship after relationship, and, through it all, alcohol.  No matter how many things and people he brought into his life, he could never quite fill the hole, and loneliness was an emotion he could not tolerate.  In working the 12 steps of recovery, he is able to be alone without feeling lonely.

Several other people spoke of drinking to avoid the feeling of loneliness.  Most of us shared that initially alcohol was a decent working solution to problems such as loneliness, shyness, self-consciousness, and challenging social situations.

It was a solution… until it wasn’t.  Then alcohol became the problem; either we drank in isolation and thus compounded our loneliness, or we drank in public and became a detriment to any and all social situations.

As it turns out, putting down the drink solves some of our problems (especially the ones that involve drunken behavior), but not all of them.  Getting sober gives us the clarity to see the problems for what they are, and allows us the freedom to deal with life on life’s terms.

The final discussion I’ll share was the comparison of infatuation to intimacy.  Once again, the 12 steps of recovery mirror the steps to a lasting, intimate relationship.  Infatuation, where a lot of relationships begin, focus on the the ways in which one can take from the relationship.  True intimacy, on the other hand, looks for ways in which you can give back.  When both partners in the relationship look to be of service to one another… that’s where the magic happens.

A powerful reminder for me as I navigate all relationships in my life!

Today’s Miracle:

The reminder that life comes down to a few simple things… get out of my own head, and see what I can do to help others.  The rest takes care of itself!

 

 

M(3), 7/18/16: Defective Characters

Greetings  to all on a hot and muggy Monday morning from my part of the world.  The expression meteorologists use, “we are in the soup,” is apt right about now!

Today’s reading came from the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.  We read the chapter that discusses step six:

Step 6:  Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character

This turned out to be one of those meetings that started with almost nobody, but by the end filled up to our usual number of attendees.  A good thing, since step 6 tends to be somewhat of a dry discussion.

I shared my evolution on this step.  In my earliest days of sobriety, I assumed step 6 was the easiest of the 12.  It reminded me of Catholic confession…just admit you do wrong, easy peasy!  Since we all as human beings have character defects, and nobody wants to be defective, how hard can it be to be willing to have them removed?

Later, as I became more familiar with the steps, and the nuances within them, this step seemed the most ridiculous, and thus I disliked intensely discussing it at all.  Within the chapter itself, it details some of the “lesser defects,” not as urgent but still in need of removal:

In a perverse way we can actually take satisfaction from the fact that many people annoy us, for it brings a comfortable feeling of superiority. Gossip barbed with our anger, a polite form of murder by character assassination, has its satisfactions for us, too. Here we are not trying to help those we criticize; we are trying to proclaim our own righteousness.

When gluttony is less than ruinous, we have a milder word for that, too; we call it “taking our comfort.” We live in a world riddled with envy. To a greater or less degree, everybody is infected with it. From this defect we must surely get a warped yet definite satisfaction. Else why would we consume such great amounts of time wishing for what we have not, rather than working for it, or angrily looking for attributes we shall never have, instead of adjusting to the fact, and accepting it? And how often we work hard with no better motive than to be secure and slothful later on—only we call that “retiring.” Consider, too, our talents for procrastination, which is really sloth in five syllables. Nearly anyone could submit a good list of such defects as these, and few of us would seriously think of giving them up, at least until they cause us excessive misery.

-pg. 67, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

I read this chapter, and I’ll be honest…calling retirement another version of sloth still annoys me!  So I swung the opposite direction, decided the notion of step 6 impossible (and stupid), and simply avoided it as much as I could.

Nowadays, thankfully, I take a more balanced approach.  The essence of step 6, to me, is the same as saying there is no graduation from recovery…there is always a way in which I can work on myself.  We are all works in progress, and as long as we are attempting to move in a direction of positive growth, we are capturing the essence of step six.

Several others shared about a variety of character defects they find most troubling, and reported mixed success in being entirely ready to remove them.

One of the first paragraphs in the chapter discusses how we in recovery can attest to the removal of one notable character defect…the obsession to drink.  One attendee found that part of the chapter troubling, as she has several years of sobriety, yet still thinks about drinking most days.  She’s worried she’s doing something wrong, since so many can declare that the obsession has been lifted from them.

This share brought an interesting sideline discussion:  does thinking about drinking make your sobriety less sound?  Obviously we are a small meeting, so it’s not like I can declare an official consensus, but our group all disagreed with the notion.  Each journey to recovery is unique, as is the active addiction story that led up to it.  So comparing one person’s sobriety to another is always a bad idea, and for any number of reasons.

When it comes right down to it, I imagine even the way one defines “obsession to drink” varies quite a bit.  People have made the statement that the obsession to drink was removed in an instant.  I cannot even comprehend how something like that would happen.

If someone were to ask me if I ever get a craving to chemically alter myself, my answer is a firm no.  But what does happen is I get lost in the memory of active addiction, and the feelings that surrounded those days are complicated.  In the early days of recovery this type of thing would happen many times a day, every day, and would consume me for hours.  As the years have passed, the frequency, intensity and duration of those moments have dramatically decreased, but they still happen.  So does this mean I still have the obsession?  Does this mean my sobriety is weak, and that I am heading towards a drink?

I choose to think no.  My take on any thoughts of drinking, or addiction, or anything related to my active addiction, is a normal part of life.  A pattern of such thoughts, or an increased emotional reaction to them, is another tool that allows me to check myself and my sobriety:  How strong do I feel?  How’s my spiritual life?  Have I been of service to others?  Have I been isolating?

The answers to those questions allows me to move in the proper direction.

The last thing I’ll share is the wisdom I heard this morning that meant the most to me.  One long timer talked about the idea of balance with regard to this step.  Often people will shoot for perfection, and if they can’t achieve it, they’ll be the perfect opposite.  Either way pride is involved, which of course is the opposite of humility, the general end goal of any of the 12 steps.

Balance, moderation, equilibrium…any time I hear them, my ears perk up, because I know they are qualities towards which I should strive.

Today’s Miracle:

Air conditioning.  Enough said!

 

 

M(3), 7/11/16: The Gratitude Advantage

Is it wrong that I just kicked a variety of kids out of the house to write this blog post?  I am choosing to think not.

In typing out the title I realize it is 7-11 day, which means that particular convenience store will be giving out free Slurpees, so perhaps if I get through this post without interruption I can reward them.

The jury’s out if that can actually happen.  Actually, the jury is heavily leaning towards this not happening.

It’s funny that I am about to write a post on gratitude, and, if I’m keeping things real, I am feeling anything but in the current moment.  I dropped a weight on my finger during this morning’s workout.  At the time, I was grateful it wasn’t my writing hand; now I am realizing in this day and age I need all 10 fingers to write.  An extremely frustrating customer service call five minutes ago plays in my head, with no obvious solution on the horizon.

And have I mentioned the variety of kids?

But this is why I love a topic like gratitude; is is a universal tool that any human being can employ at any time, for any reason.  Even in the moment, when I don’t know what the next sentence will be, I am 100% sure that by the time I hit publish I will feel better, simply because my focus will be on gratitude.

And with that long intro, this morning’s literature selection came from the book Living Sober, a chapter entitled “Being Grateful.”  The chapter describes the various mindsets that a grateful attitude can improve:

• Negative speculations (always assuming the worst)
• The tendency to say “Yes, but…” to anything complimentary or optimistic
• Focusing on (and talking about) the ways in which other people are wrong
• An urgency to be right, and to prove we are right
• An unwillingness to open our minds to the thoughts/beliefs of others

In each of these cases, a simple shift to the perspective of gratitude can make a world of difference.

I shared first, and I spoke of the primary reason I needed to read about gratitude today.  A few months back, I submitted a resume for a job, something I have not done in more than 16 years.  I found out this weekend that I did not get the job (cue the sad music).

This is the type of news where my mind and my heart are at war with one another.  Maybe skirmish is a better fit, since war seems a bit big.  On the one hand, I really and truly (and really and truly) know that the job was a bit of a longshot (I was competing with people with years of experience in a field where I had essentially none), it was my first foray into the professional world in a really long time, and that another opportunity will present itself.  I am a strong believer that things happen for a reason, and therefore this job must not have been meant for me.  I had the most ideal of scenarios in terms of the interview process, as the hiring manager is someone with whom I have a passing acquaintance and so I was able to be my authentic self.  So my mind absolutely knows I put my best foot forward and have nothing in which to feel ashamed.

So that’s my head’s side of the story.

My heart has a different version of events.  The fact that I can make that statement at all shows the kind of progress I’ve made in recovery.  Who even knew that you could think one way but feel another?  Certainly not pre-recovery Josie!  All weekend long I’d be doing something and then wonder why my stomach felt jittery, or my chest area felt achy, then I’d stop and realize what the problem was… oh yeah!  I didn’t get the job!  And I’d feel disappointment, and a vague sense of something resembling panic, all over again.

And my mind would reprimand:  What is there to feel bad about?  And I’d distract myself some more.  And so on, for the next two days.

I fessed up to all of this to my group this morning, and as usual they came through for me. According to people much wiser than me, it seems that the feeling of feelings is something that is actually important to do (who knew?).  When I expressed uncertainty at what I would have done with this situation in active addiction, they said, “Duh!  You would have picked up a drink.”

It also turns out that being hard on oneself is a typical trait of alcoholics.  At least, that is the opinion of several in the room with decades of sobriety, so I trust they’ve been around our group long enough to know.  This fact illustrates for me, once again, that the real work begins once we put down the drink.  I’ve been sober for over four years now, and I’m still working on the self-kindness.   Good thing I’m not looking to graduate from this program!

Pushing aside feelings for any reason, telling yourself they are silly or illogical, is denying your value as a human being.  Human beings feel a variety of emotions for a variety of reasons; telling yourself you “shouldn’t” feel that way makes little to no sense.

Others spoke of the need to balance their feelings, so as not to wallow too long in something unpleasant or react to something too quickly.  The easiest way to do this?   Get out of your own head… go to a meeting, call a friend, just do something different.  As the saying goes, “move a muscle, change a thought.”

A woman newer to sobriety talks about how focusing on that for which she is grateful is the number one tool she uses daily to help her stay sober.  She has found it transformative:  good things become great things, and when things are not so great she is able to remember all the other good things, and it lessens the sting of whatever disappointment or irritant is happening for her.

So I guess I need to focus on my nine healthy fingers!

Today’s Miracle:

I got one prediction right, and one wrong.  I do feel better now that I’ve written about gratitude.  Even better, I was wrong about the kids not coming in to hassle me.  Looks like everyone’s getting a free Slurpee!