Humility is just as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self-exaltation. –Dag Hammarskjold In our struggles with self-hate and guilt, we may have thought we were humble – or perhaps even too humble. But self-abasement, which often alternates with feelings of superiority, is not the spiritual quality of humility that we striveContinue reading “Finding Humility As We Lose Self-Hate – Touchstones Reflection November 10th”
Category Archives: Suffering
Anxiety, Worry, Avoidance, Excitement, Dread, Fear, Vulnerability – Places We Go When Things Are Uncertain – Chapter 1 Extract From ‘The Atlas Of The Heart’ By Brené Brown
I love the quote below that begins the section on anxiety. It reminds me of how much of my alcoholism relates to my delusion of control. This short article from the book ‘Not God’ by Ernst Kurtz does a good job of exploring this along with the corresponding denial of the spiritual. Kurtz writes “RealityContinue reading “Anxiety, Worry, Avoidance, Excitement, Dread, Fear, Vulnerability – Places We Go When Things Are Uncertain – Chapter 1 Extract From ‘The Atlas Of The Heart’ By Brené Brown”
Boundaries – The Atlas Of The Heart By Brené Brown
Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously – Prentis Hemphill Boundaries are a prerequisite for compassion and empathy. We can’t connect with someone unless we’re clear about where we end and they begin. If there’s no autonomy between people, then there’s no compassion or empathy, just enmeshment. This hasContinue reading “Boundaries – The Atlas Of The Heart By Brené Brown”
Shame And The Meaning Of Being Human – Shame & Guilt By Ernest Kurtz
AA teaches that there is a wholeness in limitation. This understanding echoes an ancient tradition of wisdom, which saw being human as being caught in the middle, containing a contradiction. To be human, according to this tradition, means to sustain the tension of always being pulled in two opposite directions: to be more than humanContinue reading “Shame And The Meaning Of Being Human – Shame & Guilt By Ernest Kurtz”
Self Acceptance – Let Us Love You Until You Can Love Yourself May 2014 By Tony A.
Self-acceptance. This has been one of the most challenging, albeit powerful, achievements in my life to date: learning to accept and love myself as I am, period! All of my life I had been plagued with feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment, fear, inferiority and worthlessness. From the age of seven or so, I felt aContinue reading “Self Acceptance – Let Us Love You Until You Can Love Yourself May 2014 By Tony A.”
What Is Toxic Shame – Healing The Shame That Binds You By John Bradshaw
John Bradshaw was one of the most influential writers on emotional health in the twentieth century as selected by his fellow mental health professionals. He was also an alcoholic in recovery. His areas of expertise include addiction, co-dependency , trauma, emotional instability , and abuse. This extract is the preface to the original edition ofContinue reading “What Is Toxic Shame – Healing The Shame That Binds You By John Bradshaw”
An Alcoholic and a Child of God – Grapevine Article July 1995 By Rick D.
STEP 7: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.” This would have been a perfect epitaph for my headstone if my drinking had killed me before I got to AA. It was something I was constantly told; it was a feeling about myself that, although I didn’t likeContinue reading “An Alcoholic and a Child of God – Grapevine Article July 1995 By Rick D.”
Forgiving Others, Forgiving Ourselves – Spiritual Principle A Day – September 21st
“Sometimes the path to forgiving ourselves begins with forgiving another for their lack of forgiveness.” Living Clean, Chapter 5, “Amends and Reconciliation” At first glance, this quote may sound like a riddle, but our experience validates its wisdom. Hoping to be forgiven is only human. Despite advice to the contrary, we sometimes harbor expectations aboutContinue reading “Forgiving Others, Forgiving Ourselves – Spiritual Principle A Day – September 21st”
By Defiance – Grapevine Article August 1948 By Anonymous
I love this brief article’s insight into learning to use our defiance for the greater good consistent with our 3rd step decision and prayer. It may be a great way of helping us internalize what can happen when we learn, with God, to love our internal enemies – those parts of us that seem toContinue reading “By Defiance – Grapevine Article August 1948 By Anonymous”
Shame, Fear And The Problem With Faking It – Broken Open (Extract From Chapter 11)- By William Moyers
William Moyers wrote a bestselling book called Broken in 2006 which chronicled his journey in sobriety from alcohol and crack cocaine addiction. In 2014 after years of sober living, he found himself addicted to painkillers prescribed after dental surgery. He had made (and continues to make) his living as the Public Relations Director for theContinue reading “Shame, Fear And The Problem With Faking It – Broken Open (Extract From Chapter 11)- By William Moyers”