Wholesome

If your decision is to become whole, hold that decision. You will not be as tempted or as frightened as you think. Hold it and remind yourself again and again: You stand between your lesser self and your whole self. Choose with wisdom because the power is now fully in your hands. Do not underestimate the power of consciousness. As you live and make conscious choices each moment and each day you fill with strength and your lesser self disintegrates.

As you choose to empower yourself, the part of you that you challenge, the temptation that you challenge, will surface again and again. Each time that you challenge it, you gain power and it loses power. If you challenge an addiction to alcohol, for example, and you are drawn twelve times that very day to have a drink, challenge that energy each and every time. If you look upon each reccurance as a setback, or as an indication that your intention is not working, you choose the path of learning through fear and doubt. If you look upon each reccurance as an opportunity that is offered to you, in response to your intention, to release your inadequency and to acquire power over it, you choose the path of learning through wisdom, for that is what it is.

The Seat of the Soul
by Gary Zukav

I found this very poignant and in line with the Rational Recovery practice so I thought I'd share it with you fine folks.

dwtbd

That sentiment certainly is in line with Rational Recovery's approach. Another element from RR that helped me tremendously was the idea that everyone has the capacity to choose the better path. Everyone has the innate ability to decide to choose abstinence and and choose to attain it.
You can choose to end the addiction , you can choose to be in control, anything that says that capacity is not within you is wrong and only fosters the addiction.

Spacegoat

Good post thanks

Wholesome

What he says in his book is that the soul is always trying to become whole and that the people we meet and the experiences we have are so our souls can heal and learn the lessons we need to learn so we can achieve enlightenment. It's an interesting book if you're into that sort of spirituality.

dwtbd

I have become more spiritually aware as of late, and the book sounds interesting in that respect. I see man as a being of self-made soul , that we do what we do with our innate freewill to build-on from what nature/nurture have given us.
When I first read the post I go stuck on the "if" parts, I think I saw it saying that' if' you choose a certain perspective 'these' outcomes are open to you , I just wanted to add that the 'path' is open to everyone, I do not believe that there is or can be an overriding 'condition' that makes attaining the goal of sobriety out of anyone's reach.
Choose a better, you can and you deserve it because what 'if' you don't ?

Wholesome

Yes the path is open to everybody but some people struggle so much more than others. A point that he makes is that once you/your soul knows you want to heal that aspect of your/itself you will keep encountering situations/obstacles to reaffirm that choice and it will keep getting more and more difficult to remain unhealed. The price of continuing will get higher and higher.

How we all choose to perceive the struggle with our addictions and how we choose to learn whatever our lessons are is personal to each of us. What he encourages people to do is to learn to overcome them not through fear but empowerment.

dwtbd

I like the cut of his jib