To forgive, truly to forgive, involves letting go of the feeling of resentment and of the vision that underlies that feeling—the vision in which we see ourselves as being offended against, the vision of self-as-victim. As in all matters relating to the spiritual, focusing on feeling distracts from the more profound and truly important issue—theContinue reading “Forgiveness – Spirituality Of Imperfection (Extract From Chapter 15) By Ernest Kurtz”
Category Archives: Rationalizations
What We Resist Persists; Acceptance And Willingness – Get Out Of Your Mind & Into Your Life (Chapter4) By Stephen Hayes
This article focuses us on the pragmatic idea that we must be willing to accept our pain to begin to heal as we move from a life of being a pain killer to become a pain healer. Experience avoidance and denial do not work. What we resist persists. The truth can set us free butContinue reading “What We Resist Persists; Acceptance And Willingness – Get Out Of Your Mind & Into Your Life (Chapter4) By Stephen Hayes”
When Am I Being Manipulative – Walk In Dry Places April 23rd
Without understanding our motives, we can easily lapse into behavior aimed at manipulating others. Sulking is a means of letting others know we are displeased and forcing them to attempt to win our approval. Flattery is a false expression of approval that we don’t really feel…. giving others good strokes for our own purpose. WithholdingContinue reading “When Am I Being Manipulative – Walk In Dry Places April 23rd”
Growing Up Emotionally – 12 Smart Things To Do When The Booze And Drugs Are Gone By Dr. Allen Berger
Emotional sobriety doesn’t spontaneously appear. We have to work hard at growing up. Bill did. In addition to the time he spent working the Steps, getting spiritual direction from the Reverend Sam Shoemaker, spending time alone in contemplation, and working with others, he also sought out psychotherapy. His therapist was the famous Dr. Harry Tiebout,Continue reading “Growing Up Emotionally – 12 Smart Things To Do When The Booze And Drugs Are Gone By Dr. Allen Berger”
The Goal Of Willingness – Get Out Of Your Mind And Into Your Life (Extract Chapter 9) By Stephen Hayes
The goal of willingness is flexibility. When you are able to be fully present in the here and now without being judgmental or without pushing away experiences (thoughts, feelings, emotions, bodily sensations, and so on) you have much more freedom to take needed steps to action. If you are willing to have an emotion, feeling,Continue reading “The Goal Of Willingness – Get Out Of Your Mind And Into Your Life (Extract Chapter 9) By Stephen Hayes”
Rationalizing Away Our Recovery – Just For Today March 6th p.68
“As a result of the Twelve Steps, I’m not able to hold on to old ways of deceiving myself.” ❖ We all rationalize. Sometimes we know we are rationalizing, admit we are rationalizing, yet continue to behave according to our rationalizations! Recovery can become very painful when we decide that, for one reason or another,Continue reading “Rationalizing Away Our Recovery – Just For Today March 6th p.68”
Mashup – Recognizing And Surrendering Our Grandiosity
The belief in how special and unique we are can develop into a grandiosity that we may need to recognize within ourselves. The Twelve & Twelve reminds us of what the results of a study of alcoholics concluded were our most common personality traits The doctors weren’t trying to find how different we were fromContinue reading “Mashup – Recognizing And Surrendering Our Grandiosity”
Daily Inventory – As Bill Sees It #296
Often, as we review each day, only the closest scrutiny will reveal what our true motives were. There are cases where our ancient enemy rationalization has stepped in and has justified conduct which was really wrong. The temptation here is to imagine that we had good motives and reasons when we really hadn’t. We “constructivelyContinue reading “Daily Inventory – As Bill Sees It #296”
Conscience And Step Ten – Spiritual Principle A Day October 24th
“We need to stay in tune with the voice of our conscience and listen to what it’s telling us. When we get a nagging feeling that something isn’t quite right, we should pay attention to it.” It Works, Step Ten Our days of justifying our own bad behavior are mostly behind us. Sure, we stillContinue reading “Conscience And Step Ten – Spiritual Principle A Day October 24th”
When Conflict Mounts – As Bill Sees It #289
Sometimes I would be forced to look at situations where I was doing badly. Right away, the search for excuses would become frantic. “These,” I would exclaim, “are really a good man’s faults.” When that pet gadget broke apart, I would think, “Well, if those people would only treat me right, I wouldn’t have toContinue reading “When Conflict Mounts – As Bill Sees It #289”