Having been sober in AA for a while, I was encouraged to read some other AA literature as well as the Big Book. One of my favourites is ‘AA Comes of Age’. For those who have not yet had the pleasure, it is about the 20th Anniversary Convention of AA in St Louis and theContinue reading “Ego Reduction and Surrender – Road To Recovery Group Plymouth MA By Chris S.”
Category Archives: Sensitivity
Harrowing – Recovery Poem By Parker Palmer
This poem has been added to the growing section of Recovery Poems. I also find Parker’s poem’s origin story below quite helpful and instructive. The word harrowing is an adjective that means extremely disturbing, distressing, or painful. – Bruce M. How This Poem Was Created Years ago, during a deep dive into clinical depression, I was walking downContinue reading “Harrowing – Recovery Poem By Parker Palmer”
Learning To Support Not Punish Ourselves By Dr. Kristin Neff
The most important boundary I have is with myself. It is not OK for me to condemn or hate myself. Instead of believing and accepting that judgment; I can pause and gets curious about this reaction of so much hate and disgust for myself. What I usually find is that I’m believing a bunch ofContinue reading “Learning To Support Not Punish Ourselves By Dr. Kristin Neff”
Feel, Deal, Heal – Grapevine Article By Briggs C.
A three-word phrase that he didn’t understand—until he spent some quality time in the program There are very few original thoughts in the rooms of AA, but this may be one. It was a cold November morning years ago now that I walked through the door of Dawn Patrol in Albuquerque. I wanted to beContinue reading “Feel, Deal, Heal – Grapevine Article By Briggs C.”
Facing Our Darker Side – The Language of Letting Go By Melody Beattie April 2nd
“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” – Step Four By the time we get to the Fourth of the Twelve Steps, we are ready to face our darker side, the side that prevents us from loving others, from letting others love us, and from enjoying life and ourselves. The purpose of StepContinue reading “Facing Our Darker Side – The Language of Letting Go By Melody Beattie April 2nd”
Turning It Over and Acceptance – Buddhism And The Twelve Steps March 1st & 2nd Reflections By Kevin Griffin
March 1 “Turning it over” Step Three brings us into the heart of the program and gives us a new set of challenges. To begin, there is a question of what it means to “turn our lives over,” whether to God or anything else. What many people find when confronting this Step for the firstContinue reading “Turning It Over and Acceptance – Buddhism And The Twelve Steps March 1st & 2nd Reflections By Kevin Griffin”
No Orders Issued – As Bill Sees It # 237
Neither the A.A. General Service Conference, its Board of Trustees, nor the humblest group committee can issue a single directive to an A.A. member and make it stick, let alone mete out any punishment. We’ve tried this lots of times, but utter failure is always the result. Groups have sometimes tried to expel members, butContinue reading “No Orders Issued – As Bill Sees It # 237”
Faith Without Works Is Dead – 12-Step Philosophy By Steve K.
One of the strengths of Alcoholics Anonymous (Both the Fellowship and Big Book) is that it is honest about its human origins. The Big Book was not intended to be a timeless, infallible spiritual text. The historical evidence clearly suggests that Bill Wilson intended the Big Book to be a living document, continuously shaped byContinue reading “Faith Without Works Is Dead – 12-Step Philosophy By Steve K.”
Pain, Resistance & Suffering – Suffer Like A Marine By Arthur Brooks
His Holiness the Dalai Lama often talks to me about pain and suffering, but he doesn’t use the terms interchangeably. On the contrary, he teaches that they exist together in the following way: Suffering = pain x resistance Pain can be physical or mental, and happens to you because of an outside stimulus—you slam your hand inContinue reading “Pain, Resistance & Suffering – Suffer Like A Marine By Arthur Brooks”
Perfectionism – Seeing & Responding With Emotional Sobriety Video By Allen Berger
Below is an excellent 30 minute video that explores how perfectionism amplifies self hatred. The video also explores how we can learn to respond differently to the ‘should monster’ of our idealized false self we’ve created to be loved, accepted and have a sense of belonging. And, in this new response, we learn how toContinue reading “Perfectionism – Seeing & Responding With Emotional Sobriety Video By Allen Berger”