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Fear...

Old 03-17-2012, 04:50 AM
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That's why I say...Many people need that and I'm all for that....I just didn't think it was right for me...I felt worse taking that stuff than not...I needed a spritual overhaul...Not a medical one...But for anyone taking meds that work for them...I encourage you to continue. That's what they are for.
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Old 03-17-2012, 05:20 AM
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I think it's wonderful when we can overcome fear, as it certainly has the potential to virtually control our lives. But it comes from our deepest instincts for survival, which is why it is so hard to master. Fear keeps us safe. If humans were born without fear we would walk off cliffs, pick up deadly snakes and spiders, take terrible risks in all directions. Our ancestors who had the least fear probably didn't survive to pass on their genes.

Fear is a bad master and a good slave. We need just enough to keep us safe, but not so much we are handicapped by it.
I don't agree that it is a moral defect, as it is a natural instinct that everyone is born with, but I do agree it can ruin one's life if allowed to go unchecked.
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Old 03-17-2012, 07:03 AM
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There is fear that we need to survive Sally...And then there is fear that can destroy an alcoholic...Which in my case...Came pretty damn close.
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Old 03-17-2012, 07:27 AM
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I found I had irrational fears and rational fears. Today, the rational fears are good to have, I no longer wallow in the irrational fears. Change is occurring now.
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Old 03-17-2012, 08:51 AM
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Course it's not just fear that makes the alcoholic drink.. What about anger? Or sorrow? Depression is my biggest trigger. And then there is the other big one: resentment. For most alkies I think any unpleasant feeling can be a trigger...
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Old 03-17-2012, 09:01 AM
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Originally Posted by Sally1009 View Post
Course it's not just fear that makes the alcoholic drink.. What about anger? Or sorrow? Depression is my biggest trigger. And then there is the other big one: resentment. For most alkies I think any unpleasant feeling can be a trigger...
Anger...Sorrow...Depression...Resentment...All fear based emotions.
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Old 03-17-2012, 09:12 AM
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Hmmm..I'll have to think about that one.
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Old 03-17-2012, 09:17 AM
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Give me something that makes you angry today Sally...
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Old 03-17-2012, 09:40 AM
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I'm not generally an angry type of person, Sapling, but if I do get angry it's usually in situations where I am being controlled, or have to do things I don't want to do, like housework!
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Old 03-17-2012, 10:06 AM
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A good quote on fear.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

― Nelson Mandela
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Old 03-17-2012, 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Sally1009 View Post
but if I do get angry it's usually in situations where I am being controlled,
Would you say that's a fear that you aren't in charge? It might scare you a little bit that someone might make a decision that isn't yours?
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Old 03-17-2012, 10:23 AM
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I listened to the Joe and Charlie series on Step Four, with a special section on fear. Later that day, I get a call from my medical care team saying I have to retake a mammogram. The fear rocketed through my mind and body in a second.
But, what can I do but let God remove this fear? Not my will but thine be done.
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Old 03-17-2012, 02:51 PM
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Sapling: not a bad theory, except for the fact that I don't like being in charge of others either! Too much pressure!
Wakeup: sorry to hear about your mammogram. But it doesnt necessarily mean there's anything wrong - sometimes the image isn't clear, or it's just a benign cyst.
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Old 03-17-2012, 03:26 PM
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Control is also another form of fear.

Resentments come from not being able to control another, so we react, which is also a defense mechanism. When I resent another, it is often because I see my own behavior in what they are or aren't doing/saying, so this is when I see me; I can then change my behavior or reaction to an action.
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Old 03-17-2012, 04:25 PM
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They talk in the big book about being driven by a hundred forms of fear...It's the evil and corroding thread....
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Old 03-17-2012, 04:50 PM
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Evil? A little strong surely for what is simply a human instinct?!
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Old 03-17-2012, 05:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Sally1009 View Post
Evil? A little strong surely for what is simply a human instinct?!
EVIL is a word I no longer harbor in my vocabulary, except in the palindrome:

RATS LIVE ON NO EVIL STAR
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Old 03-17-2012, 10:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Sally1009 View Post
Evil? A little strong surely for what is simply a human instinct?!
It's from this line in the Big Book Sally...Have you read that yet?

This short word somehow touches about every aspect of our lives. It was an evil and corroding thread; the fabric of our existence was shot through with it. It set in motion trains of circumstances which brought us misfortune we felt we didn't deserve. But did not we, ourselves, set the ball rolling?
Pg 67 BB first edition
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Old 03-18-2012, 07:57 AM
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Yes, I've read the BB many times. A very clever piece of work, given the times it was set in. Sometimes I get a little irritated by the high-flown emotive style, but then in the thirties and forties that was the style...I don't agree with every single word, but it's the best and most accurate book I've ever read about alcoholism.
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Old 03-18-2012, 08:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Sally1009 View Post
Yes, I've read the BB many times. A very clever piece of work, given the times it was set in. Sometimes I get a little irritated by the high-flown emotive style, but then in the thirties and forties that was the style...I don't agree with every single word, but it's the best and most accurate book I've ever read about alcoholism.
Cool...I kind of looked at it like a book about me.
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