Just wanted to open this topic up, for discussion, this a.m. The very best part of my Recovery, if there is such a thing, is Emotional Sobriety.
No More Mellow Drama, Just life being life, with it's ups and downs. I have been upset in the last few days, and have been feeling off-center with my own, God given right to what I cherish most in my Recovery. Emotional Sobriety.
I have some wonderful memories of what this Program taught me, back in Marin County, people that had their Montras, and had some time, and they really never got into their personal "Stuff" in meetings, but would always share, for the Newcomer some real "Keepers" that I want to share with you.
"Don't sweat the Small Stuff, and it is ALL Small Stuff"
"All my Problems in Recovery, are "Gold Plated"
"If your Ass Falls off, you DON'T Drink"
"Please keep it simple, Stupid"
"If you don't pick up that first Drink, you will NOT get Drunk"
"Keep your Sobriety First in Everything, and YOU can KEEP it"
"Remain Humble and Grateful To Your Higher Power, and your Chances will remain better at Continuing to Stay Sober"
"In Order to Keep it, you MUST give it AWAY!"
"Work the Steps IN the Order that they were Written"
"A 13th Step, will lead you back to the 1st Step"
"fellowship, fellowship, & then fellowship with other SOBER Alcoholics"
'Stay in the Center of Recovery, not on the outside, looking IN"
"When you have completed the 12 Steps, you will WANT to Repeat them"
"The record in this Program is 24 hours"
I could write maybe 20 more, but I wanted to hear from you, what you really love, and what has helped you with your own Emotional Sobriety.
Many of these sayings, I do know are straight out of the AA Big Book, but some were the inventions of my beloved brothers and Sisters in the Fellowship, I was in for 15 years in my Home town.
So, my question is What does your Emotional Sobriety mean to You??
Thread is open, and hope you all have a Great Day.
For me, emotional sobriety is the crux of my living ( which does not mean that I am ever wholly balanced). When I allow any emotion whatsoever to become out of balance, then my sobriety is threatened. What I am very cautious of, in this journey of life, is to try my best to remain in detachment until I feel it is safe to attach. This is inclusive of emotions. When I do not use this, I become fixated on specific things--say, an ex that I was angry at back in 1978--and it absolutely will snowball. So, almost like a second nature, a negative or actually, any unexpected emotion suddenly appears, I step back and sort of "give it approval". Or not. My Emotional Sobriety totally depends on my ability to be honest with myself. "where are you coming from, Chris. What's the real agenda here". If I pass my boundries and play the game of "emotional upheavel", my emotions take the upper hand, and no doubt in my mind, I will railroad myself in a hot second to places I don't want to go. I go back to feeding my sickness. Being dictated to by wrong thinking. Something that I was taught by one of my teachers is " energy follows intent". I allow a self destructive or dibilitating thought to take root, it becomes an intention, and sure as the sun comes up, I will be placing energy, emotional energy, into it. The act itself will take place shortly there after. So, between my Higher Power, my personal awareness and the Steps, I hang onto self honesty, the juggling act of balancing my emotions, and a BIGEE for me, the awareness that my insane Past no longer has power over me. I don't need to return to experiencing, over and over again, my unbalanced emotions. Gads, dealing with them day by day is enough without reliving them, reconnecting to them. Well, that was long winded.
"More important than finding the teacher is finding and following the truth of the teaching...."
-- Sogyal Rinpoche
Love, Wren
__________________
i found god in myself/and I loved her/i loved her fiercely--Ntozake Shange
Kind of interesting. Topic of emotional sobriety and only Wren and Rosie have responded.....
No one else can relate?
I know what emotional alcoholism was like. I'm gonna get emotional, not hard to do, and that's my reason to drink!
Trying to find some kind of balance or being even keel is my goal in emotional sobriety.
Trying not to get upset over things and always trying to get out of my own head because that's a scary place to be. When I'm in my own head I'm in enemy territory.
I guess the one thing that has helped me so far is that I'm not relying solely on other people to fill that empty void in myself. I try to fill it with good healthy things today. Many people at meetings have filled that void with god, but I'm not there yet. He's in my life and that's all I know.
Hope I made some kind of sense......
Great topic Toni,
Big sober hugs!!!!!
P.S. Favorite cliche-------Look for the similarities not the differences!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good to see you on this post. Many years ago, I was reading "The Road less Traveled" by Scott Peck, M.D.
In his chaper on Discipline, he stated that our emotions are what we need to Discipline the most. If we do not, they will run around the house, usually breaking into and raiding the Liquor Cabinet.
That one Stuck like glue to me.
Self-discipline is a biggy to me, daily, and he is so right on, the emotions are what need the most attention.
And staying away from the enemy, (loved that) my own thinking, also need watching over carefully.
Sometimes I think balancing all, Physical, Emotional and Spiritual matters are not for the "faint" at heart. And I feel just like you, the only thing, I need to know everyday, is that my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, is here with me, helping me walk this narrow path.
Hugs back my friend, glad to see you have more time for the Board lately, so much good stuff in what you write.
Wowee Wren, thank you. I just started a post asking if anyone had joined or been through an emotional Sobriety Workshop, which I am considering attending. I checked out a link on the web, but the guy who created that particular link seemed a bit whacked... Talking about how some people, when emotionally sober, find that they were never really truly alcoholics... adn drink again safely. Right there a red flag went up. I don't believe the people who are moderating this workshop follow that school of thought at all... one of them was the speaker at the Big Meeting at a Founder's Day in Akron that I attended a few years back, and he was solid solid solid AA, at least back then... Just wanting to get some feedback as to whether I have any real concerns here about being led off the path... I have 16 months now after a weeklong relapse from a couple of years... basically, I have had in the past 5 years 4.9 years of good sober teaching and striving. I just know I can be vulnerable at any stage in recovery, and I like to know what I am getting into when seeking outside help that is not traditional AA....
