Dropsie

Notturning,

Wow, you have gotten fantastic replies here. Amazing.

I think Andante and you have totally nailed it. I have tried to articulate the point in his second post for years but he said it so simply. You also articulate yourself very well.

I found the book Return to Love amazingly helpful in my life.

For me, god is quite simply love. My only job on this planet is to live my life in love, and everything else will be OK. For that I trust the universe, which is also (you guessed it) love.

If you look underneath most religions at their core, before being "organised," this was the message.

And if you can make that light switch go on, the results in terms of what you aspire to in your life as you said in your post will be amazing.

So when I am doing it right I accept the love of the universe, do what it tells me to do, and let the rest take its course.

This is what the serenity prayer and the Buddhist attachments are all about. Letting go of what you can't control (almost everything), doing the next right thing in love and peace, and letting the rest sort itself out.

So that is my higher power, love. The love in me is god, the love in you is god, the love in the tree ...you get the picture. And fear, not god -- get rid of that sh*t.

Now that is freedom. But you can't do any of it with a glass of pinot in your hand.

So just realised this is an old thread, but thanks for the posts -- really helpful to me.

XX

Gerard52

My higher power comes through my sub conscious or is my sub conscious.

Threshold

My HP is Good Orderly Direction. When I follow it, things get better and I have a lot less trouble in my life. My sober self is also a HP. My sober self knows that I need to follow good orderly direction.

So far that HP has NEVER failed me. It's not personal, I can't manipulate it or lie to it, it doesn't play favorites nor does it have some specific plan for my life other than to keep me out of unecessary grief and keep me moving towards being a better human being.

When I have a problem and don't know what to do...I seek good orderly direction. When I want to use a substance or inappropriate behavior to escape my feelings, I apply good orderly direction.

Zencat

For me there is absolute no need for a higher power. I believe that a higher power is an elaborate construct of the mind. Being free from the mental construct of God and higher powers
is as liberating/calming as sobriety is. I have a kindness as a religion. I am spiritually connected to the here and now.


Relieving alcoholism can be accomplished by behavioral modification. Reshaping behavior and mind by the use of alcoholism therapy instruction and practice has worked to help countless alcoholics into peaceful recovery.

Fearlessat50

This thread has been going on for a long time! I have been reading the Big Book and going through 12steps on my own. I have struggled with the idea of a HP because I am atheist (or at least agnostic). I grew up very religious so I call myself a born again atheist. Anyway, I usually post on the Newcomers to Recovery forum. Glad I found this one too. I would say my HP is the collective good including those parts of myself and others that are good, and everything in the universe and nature that collectively lead us to the light and all that is good. I am still working on developing this concept for myself and this seems to stick with me the most.

DaveNZ

Try thinking of your "higher power" as anything at all EXCEPT your conscious self.

Ananda

I have been struggling with the "higher power" concept (code word for most people for god). I am an agnostic and don't know if there is or isn't a god …. I have an opinion that there isn't, but it is just an opinion.

That said, I do have something spiritual that I don't call a higher power. I've done fine with that and the big thing is I have to turn my will and my life over to nothing....just turn it over....

I'm right in the middle of looking at this, so things are fluid and I'll have to let you know how it goes.

I'm Ananda, having trouble logging in and hoping to get things fixed soon.

awuh1

I think I have a good idea of where you are coming from. The first post in the thread below is my experience with it. I hope you find it of some benefit.
https://www.soberrecovery.com/forums...xperience.html (Having had a spiritual experience)

thisisme

My higher power is Allen Carr. I did not follow AA but I respect all who do.

Zencat

I like the concept of a 'higher-self', that is to better myself. Its something I can grasp and work to attain. It just is simpler for me.

thisisme

When people asked me this I used to say Allen Carr, now I say I am my own higher power.
I am become the glory of my time.


Edit-I thought this was non secular 12 step forum. No offense intended, we follow our own paths.

usefulengine

My comment here is using yours as inspiration, which is why I am quoting it. I am not debating - I am appreciating through explaining my lane in this recovery traffic.

I have a mixture involving part of what you are saying - I'm riding the parts of that mental construct you described. I'm swayed by what I hear from neuroscience that our brain is wired for some types of spirituality.

The way I view a higher power is kind of Quaker-y. My favorite part about Quakers is that they don't tell you what to believe. In fact, lol, their meetings are an hour of silence unless someone is really moved to break that silence. Pretty high bar to entry!

I'm coming to understand - a lot of how I live my life here, in this present, in this body is what I am concerned about. I want to do it well, I want to be a good specimen of a corpse who treated people well. I bristle with the ways some folks of faith get there, and that's just how it goes.

But for me: creativity and constructive energy are my worship. It's less pious than it sounds. I will sometimes frame things in Christian words and language because of how I grew up, but I do rarely find wisdom in what comes to me from ambassadors of that world - worshippers and faith leaders and all that. There are some exceptions, and I'm lucky I know some. But the texts, the stories really do something for me. I read a couple passages the other night that totally clarified (and showed some limits) in some of my thinking around generosity, for example.

In any case, this is basically my internal brain wiring at this point.

But on the daily - I fit more in with the secular people.

edit: after posting, I realized I should add - I grew up with some really abusive beliefs and just don't want them anywhere near me. I have my own thing going on, which is fine. Other people may have a similar situation to mine and choose to be done with the whole thing. That's fine too.