Originally Posted by AVRT
Think about your hunger drive. The body says "I want food," but it isn't going to get food until you get in your car, go to the supermarket, pick out ingredients, go through the checkout line, get home, and cook it. So, the body shows you images of food, the supermarket, etc. If you want a more complex example, think about what people do just to get a date on a Friday night.
Yes. Exactly. This is why the practices of mindfulness and awareness have been so important to me. I was very reactionary. Knee-jerk. When I was actively drinking and the beast was in control I thought it was me. Taking a minute to breathe and refocus when a thought would come in from the beast has been crucial in allowing me to easily dismiss that voice. I don't linger long enough to engage her, but simply long enough to recognize what the hell is going on. The buddhist thought of detaching from feelings and allowing them to pass through with out acting is so parallel to AVRT(in my mind anyway), because actively fighting, arguing, going round and round with the beast is simply another form of dangerous engagement. The answer is no...
Originally Posted by onlythetruth
But I know many others who, even though they are not in a chip-giving program, do show up at a meeting of that program to get a chip each year.
I can see how this would be a curious thing. I do it if it seems like a fun thing to do. Nothing more, nothing less. Some think that's odd, and it's obiviously not for everyone. I like to do special things on my sobriety date (and my birthday, and my children's birthday....yes, all 3 have the same birthday)
I apparently died on that last day of drinking since they could get no pulse or heartbeat on me and it was by my own hand...so...I dunno...the day marks a sort of rebirth for me (as it does for alot of people). I had gone 10 years before without drinking from my 20s to my 30s and never even knew the date I had quit. So counting time or marking anniversaries isn't something I've always done. As to not being in the program, but partaking in one of the rituals, I have been known to do this in other areas. I am not religious, do not believe nor disbelieve in god, but I have been in churches when the music has been quite powerful...something I can't put my finger on, nor do I even try to. The only problem I have with any program, method, religion, etc. is the whole "you are not doing it right" "it must be this way". I believe if one has successfully stopped destructive (self and other) behaviors and is able to achieve some equanimity in life,
then they are doing it right. People often don't trust themselves enough.
Basically I don't hang my hat on anything other than myself. While I enjoy fellow travelers and learn much from them, and even rely on our connectedness at times, it is really only
my two feet that are walking
my path all the time. I have to decide.
As always, super great thread with super great people.