How do you define powerlessness?
quat
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: terra (mostly)firma
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Originally Posted by Boleo 
I Can not drink nor can I not-drink. I am for all practical purposes caught in a double-bind.
To claim I still have some power over my drinking makes no sense in my world. To claim I lost all power over my drinking makes no sense in other people's world. What I now have is a "Spiritual Solution", it does not need to make sense to get results. Spiritual answers are beyond all logic and reason.
To claim I still have some power over my drinking makes no sense in my world. To claim I lost all power over my drinking makes no sense in other people's world. What I now have is a "Spiritual Solution", it does not need to make sense to get results. Spiritual answers are beyond all logic and reason.
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Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Scandinavia
Posts: 1,344
Originally Posted by dwtbd
I don't accept the dichotomy. Reason is the faculty by which we gain knowledge. And I like "Logic , the art of noncontradictory identification "
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
Originally Posted by dwtbd
I don't accept the dichotomy. Reason is the faculty by which we gain knowledge.
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The mind only has the the sum total of it's knowledge base to draw information from. If the mind never had a deep insight or spiritual experience how can it be expected to understand it. The mind can't apply logic to things nobody could possibly understand.
Kaleidoscope eyes
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: London
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Originally Posted by Joe Nerv
And what do you believe you are powerless over, if anything?
I purposely put this in the alcoholism section and not the 12 step section because I'm curious what everyone thinks.
AA sometimes gets a bad rap because of the ideas wrapped around the concept of powerlessness. I think those ideas are often misunderstood.
The way I see it, saying I'm powerless over alcohol means that the addiction (obsession, illness, disease, compulsion, desire, or whatever anyone wants to label it) that kicks in if I pick up a first drink is going to win. I have 'less' power than it does. Alcohol, if I drink it, becomes more powerful than my wish to control it. Is that different than what someone who uses AVRT or any other way of staying sober believes? Or are we all really on the same page, only using different words and definitions?
I have a lot of thoughts on this (and other things in my life I believe I'm powerless over) but just want to get the conversation rolling.
I'm not looking to start a heated debate, really looking to find common ground here. I believe we all have a common goal. To stay away from alcohol, and help others to do the same. Looking for little pieces that might help to keep us all on the same page, rather than seperate us. Hope we can keep this pleasant.
I purposely put this in the alcoholism section and not the 12 step section because I'm curious what everyone thinks.
AA sometimes gets a bad rap because of the ideas wrapped around the concept of powerlessness. I think those ideas are often misunderstood.
The way I see it, saying I'm powerless over alcohol means that the addiction (obsession, illness, disease, compulsion, desire, or whatever anyone wants to label it) that kicks in if I pick up a first drink is going to win. I have 'less' power than it does. Alcohol, if I drink it, becomes more powerful than my wish to control it. Is that different than what someone who uses AVRT or any other way of staying sober believes? Or are we all really on the same page, only using different words and definitions?
I have a lot of thoughts on this (and other things in my life I believe I'm powerless over) but just want to get the conversation rolling.
I'm not looking to start a heated debate, really looking to find common ground here. I believe we all have a common goal. To stay away from alcohol, and help others to do the same. Looking for little pieces that might help to keep us all on the same page, rather than seperate us. Hope we can keep this pleasant.
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