SmilingFaces

Hello Everyone,
Im new to the this amazing website, I have to admit that it is e gift for me to find this forum, especially since I found this thread.

I for one feel that I am almost addicted to thought and maybe even praying.
I have been sober for almost three months thanks to God!!!
Since I was young I have always felt that I was battling with good and bad thoughts, and even while drinking heavily I would pray them awake(rebuke them). It is comforting to know that I am not the only one, I can relate to alot of what Grace is going through.

I also believe that our every thought(including the worse thought-To drink) is controlled by either God or Satan.Now I am far from a saint, but I picked up a bible(once again) in my first few weeks of sobriety and attending AA meetings, I was going through this amazing spiritual experience which has since plateaued somewhat, the things that happened to me I am still not able to explain. But something that will always stick we me, and continues to "spin" as a Thought, in my already spinning head is the following from the Spiritual Warfare Bible:"Your words and thoughts-Everything in the universe begins with and revolves around two things:words and thoughts. These two elements form the creative substance that molds and shapes the destiny of humanity. Each of us becomes the person we are, chooses the direction we take, and accomplishes everything we do based on these two primary elements. Our thoughts, intentions, motivations, and aspirations-whether they be secretly pondered in the heart, openly declared as desires, or formally written as goals-mold and shape our personal universe into something that is either grand and beautiful or base and hideous.

This is pretty amazing to me, I have also been told that once you are trying to strive to become a better Christian, Satan will attack your thoughts even more, and I believe that this may be what I am going through, I believe he obviously is using alcohol and many other tools(including bad thoughts) to destroy lives. God knows I was destroying mine slowly. My mom who is also Christian (but more into "energy') has been told by a sister(Catholic) that there is so much energy(good and bad) in the world right now that our thoughts may influence more than we know.All very deep and interesting. I do know one thing, I've heard several people in AA say that this battle with alcohol is in fact like a spiritual battle.I don't have all the answers, who does besides God...my thoughts continue lol

Riel

The late Richard Carlson wrote a book, "You Can Be Happy No Matter What," in which he stressed that our thoughts aren't laden with the significance we tend to attribute to them, but are rather fairly unimportant things that we can mostly ignore if we choose.

We aren't our thoughts, in other words, and don't have to identify with them. For people in recovery this is especially helpful as we may have many fearful or otherwise unproductive thoughts, but nevertheless decide to make healthy choices notwithstanding them.

mecanix

this was nearer to my thoughts than existentialism

WILLEM DE RIDDER - YouTube

polaris

I think too much, and its often to my detriment. Drinking is a coping mechanism for that ofcourse, but everyone is different. Ive know some smart and deep thinkers that were very positive and happy people. Unfortunately I tend to think A LOT and be more disposed towards negativity and pessimism. Its something I want to escape.

Boleo

Jean-Paul Sartre expressed the existential idea that “existence precedes essence”. This tends to make René Descartes’ famous statement “I think, therefore I am” look as though it is based on the false premise that essence precedes existence. Descartes should have said, “I am before I think”. He was fundamentally wrong because he started with the false premise that the “I am” that thinks is the “I am” that I am. Existence precedes essence or substance. I am before I think. Thinking is built upon existence but it is not the root cause of existence. Existence is totally passive and without words or concepts. In other words, it is 100% anticipation and zero percent expectation, without any hint of bias or even the earliest antedate of judgment. In other words, thinking is optional and existence can take place without thinking, language or concepts. Something the Hindu Rishi’s discovered over a thousand years ago through “wu-nien” mediation and Buddhist Gurus have done through “Zazen“.

longbeachone

I used to have huge problems in my marriage due to constantly remembering a time in our courtship that my husband (then boyfriend) left me for another woman. After we were reunited, the memories of seeing them together played over and over, like movies in my brain that I couldn't turn off. They would infuriate me, send me into deep depression, push me into punishing my husband over and over. Eventually I was able to stop doing this damage to myself, but it did contribute to my drinking.

Now, I have a pretty easy time letting things go. I can forgive easily. Recovery gave me the tools to do this, to stop sweating the small stuff, to understand that everything in life doesn't happen strictly to affect me. I have a strong relationship with my higher power, who I call God. When I ask him for help, and have faith that help will come to me, it does.

BackToSquareOne

So are we a body that gives birth to conscious awareness or does conscious awareness manifest or exist for a while in a body?

If you were in an accident and lost your entire "collection of memories" and were only left with conscious awareness who would you be? The old connection with "I Am", your memories, would no longer exist so that whole idea of who you thought you were would no longer be there.

What am I getting at, I have no idea, just some late night thoughts.

Boleo

Any Zen Master will tell ya...

"Open mouth. Already wrong."