Mittwoch, 29. Januar 2014

Spiritual, the meaning

As the addictive personality gains more control and addicts lose more of their ability to influence their own thoughts and behaviors, there is a spiritual deadening. My definition of spiritual means being connected in a meaningful way to the world around us. The feeling of belonging and being an important part of the world is lost as addiction progresses. The sense of knowing oneself and one's importance drifts further and further away.

Craig Nakken
The Addictive Personality

Mittwoch, 22. Januar 2014

Stop Struggling

Some of the problems we have living the twelve steps are self-induced. If a drowning person panics and fights her rescuer, she may die. If she fights long enough and hard enough, she surely will. Maybe what we need to do is stop struggling and let someone help us out of the deep water. Maybe we should let go and float, let the tide take us toward shore. Maybe that elusive peace is already around us but we cannot feel it because of the struggle.

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
Interpreted by the Hazelden Foundation

Mittwoch, 15. Januar 2014

On Therapy & Common Sense

We live in an age of experts. There are depression specialists, addiction professionals, borderline therapists and the ones who hold expert knowledge in the field of angst, fear, and anxiety (this one I made up but I'm sure such experts can be found).

I cannot imagine an alcoholic who does not suffer from anxiety, I cannot imagine a drug addict who does not suffer from depressive moods, I cannot imagine a borderline who does not suffer from addictive behaviours.

In other words, the distinctions we are making in matters of the soul do not make much sense. When it comes to helping the soul to heal, we need not listen to "experts", we need to do what our ancestors did: listen to the ones with more life experience, be open to the ones with common sense (that, by the way, isn't so common), pay attention to the ones without the tunnel views provided by programmes and principles (but take of course from programmes what helps, and subscribe to principles that are useful).

Hans Durrer, 2014

Mittwoch, 8. Januar 2014

Dem Leben davon laufen

Wir werden hier nicht über Probleme sprechen. Für viele von uns ist das ständige Ausdiskutieren von Problemen nur eine Ausflucht, eine andere Art und Weise, vor dem Leben davon zu laufen. Du benutzt deine Probleme in derselben Weise, wie du Alkohol und Pillen konsumierst, nämlich als eine weitere Art, dir selbst einzureden, dass die Lösungen, die du für dein Leben brauchst, immer irgendwo 'da draussen', also ausserhalb von dir liegen ... Die Entscheidungen über dein Leben musst du ganz alleine treffen. Dann findest du auch alle Antworten in dir.

Jacqueline C. Lair
Mein weiser Narr

Mittwoch, 1. Januar 2014

Help each other

We are here
to help each other
get through this thing,
whatever it is

Mark Vonnegut in a letter to his father, 1985