The Place Where Serenity and Mindfulness Connect
two spiritual communities - 12-Step Recovery and New Thought.
two spiritual communities - 12-Step Recovery and New Thought.
two spiritual communities - 12-Step Recovery and New Thought.
two spiritual communities - 12-Step Recovery and New Thought.
two spiritual communities - 12-Step Recovery and New Thought.
Today’s post is a little different for New Thought Sobriety, and we are very excited to share it with you! This is an audio interview with singer/songwriter Mary Lyn B., whose cd, entitled Twelve Songs, is literally the 12 Steps set to music! You may listen to the original podcast here. Be sure to support Mary Lyn by visiting her website, where you can purchase her wonderful album.
Before sobriety, it was always pretty jumbly in my head, as I recall. There was a steady din of noise that I had no idea I could intercept, re-pattern, or stop. I usually had no idea what it was specifically saying, but basically it wasn’t pretty, and it kept me in an emotional slump. The inner voices (I’ve heard referred to as The Committee) were not helpful or positive. They likely held me back, kept me struggling, doubtful, and afraid.
Today’s blog entry is a video post. In it, Dr. Tian Dayton shares wisdom from her wonderful book, Emotional Sobriety. Enjoy!
I try to remember to be mindful that what I put after that extremely powerful word duo will become my life experience. I Am… what I decide I am. Actually I Am what I believe I am, no more, no less. If I want to know what that really is, my results, situations, and circumstances will provide lots of clues for me to interpret. Those clues will tell me what I believe to be true about who I am, and what I believe is possible or not for me.
Having explored alcohol and drugs in some depth myself, I know that they don’t propagate intentional living. When substances get involved, the experience you have tends to get farther and farther from the experience you intended to have.
Striking that balance between self-reflection and self-absorption is a key.
Regularly monitoring my vitals by checking my emotional pulse, taking my spiritual temperature, and observing my physical condition have become necessary self-reflective measures that support my serenity and sobriety.
I am a licensed practitioner with Centers for Spiritual Living, and I am a recovering alcoholic. I wanted to write this article because there appears to be ongoing controversy about people in New Thought saying “I am an alcoholic.”
I have heard ministers, practitioners, and laity express concern that I “put that label” on myself. When I invite further conversation around the subject, I am told that if I really understood and believed our teachings, I would know that the label adds power to “the problem.” Some people have even gone so far as to say I should not be attaching such a negative word to myself–one that adds power to the condition–because I am claiming ownership of the condition when I do that.
I jump off a tall platform; I go boom. I touch a hot stove; ouch, I burn and blister. Every time. I trust these physical laws of nature to work–no need for me to test them repeatedly.
Historically, it’s been easier for me to buy into these physical promises than to trust the universal ones that say if I live by certain principles, certain outcomes will follow. Even more difficult for me was the notion that positive outcomes are subject to these promises just as much as negative ones; just that the negative ones felt so much more familiar to me.