The Global Conversation

Tag: sobriety

  • Conscious creation, a way out?

    In early recovery, the old-timers will tell you, “Take the cotton out of your ears and stick it in your mouth.“ This is not bad advice for the newly sober person, as listening is a lost art for people in general, not solely for the newcomer in sobriety. But I had ideas and desires, along with enthusiasm, yet not very much patience.

    You see, I wanted to start a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in my town. Oh, we had plenty of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and on some nights there were more than two happening at the same time. I had plenty of support in getting sober with the AA people, yet I desired something different. I had been to NA meetings while I was in rehab and really resonated with the people and message being offered there. For me, it was just something that I wanted to do and I set out to do so.

    When I began asking around as to how I should go about starting a meeting, I was told by everyone that I needed to wait until I had more clean time under my belt before taking on such a project. I didn’t understand, but I did accept what I was being told. I gave the old-timers the respect they had earned and did not want to endanger my sobriety. So I set a goal. At 90 days clean, I was going to start the first NA meeting in my home town!

    Little did I know at the time that what I was experiencing life in a new way. I had set a goal and now needed to wait for a time set in the future to have it materialize. During the next few weeks, which at the time must have seemed like an eternity, I gathered information and the contacts who would help to make my dream a reality. On or around my 90-day mark in recovery, myself and two others started the Tuesday night “Just For Today“ NA meeting in Port Jervis, New York.

    Setting goals and then watching them materialize is foundational work in our spiritual growth. We may begin with small goals and then work up to bigger plans. As more and more of our dreams and desires materialize, we begin to believe that the universe is a friendly place willing to support us. Remembering to give thanks to those who help us along, along with being grateful to life for supporting us, brings about a state of being that is positive and uplifting.

    Setting goals is pure creation. Tell the universe what it is you wish to do and watch it line up just the perfect people and circumstances for you to experience just that. It happens all the time to everybody. If you are not experiencing this, there can only be two reasons:

    1.  You are not finished yet. Never give up, never quit. Many times we cave in to defeat moments before victory is at our hands.

    2.  You have set the goals but there is some thought or action that is sending out a message that is either negating the original message or delaying the manifestation.

    So dream big, and small. Don’t be afraid to fail, because you simply cannot fail. Failure is quitting before the miracle. Do something each day to move yourself and the universe in the direction you wish it to go. If you find yourself thinking in a negative way about your goal, remember that thought is energy and the universe responds in kind. Believe in yourself, believe in others, and ultimately be thankful in advance for the successful completion to your ideas.

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional and auriculotherapist.  He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, recovery coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery.  Kevin has a passion for holistic living, personal awareness training, and physical meditation. You can visit his website Life After Addicton for more information. To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)

     

     

  • Upon second thought

    Thoughts are creative.

    “Does this mean all of our thoughts? Every single thing we think, every minute, all day long?

    No. And it is important to understand this.  Otherwise we’ll wind up making our-selves crazy, trying to monitor every single thought that runs through our mind.

    And that is an interesting phrase: “runs through.”  If a thought “runs through” your Mind, it does just that.  It runs through.

    MOST thoughts DO that. They run through our mind like water through a sieve.  Such thoughts have very little creative power.  They’re moving through our Mind too quickly to build up enough energy to impact physicality.

    It is only those thoughts that stick in our Mind that have power.  What gives our thoughts power is the repeated thinking of them.

    This places energy upon energy, building it up until it really MATTERS.  That is: energy becomes physical matter.

    SO!!!… if you notice that an idea is running through your Mind that you don’t like…. DON’T GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT. I mean that literally!

    It’s your second thought that gives it power. (To say nothing of your third, fourth, and fifth thought.)  If you repeatedly think something, you can be sure that you are magnifying its power.

    This is the same thing as a thought being held in Mind not only ONCE… but by A LOT OF PEOPLE at the SAME TIME. This, too, magnifies the power of thought.

    That is why collective prayer works.”  Neale Donald Walsch.

    Cravings, urges, compulsions, and obsessions are nothing more than our minds giving second, third, fourth, fifth etc… thoughts to an idea that should have just ran through our mind.  When we can harness the power of recognizing a thought that no longer represents who we say we are, and make a decision not to pay attention to it, we remove energy from the negative and turn it into a positive.

    And it is what we are Be-ing that is so very important in our existence here.  Most of us think we are doing sobriety and that can indicate that sobriety is only a temporary state for us.  When we decide it is our state of BEING, it becomes a permanent character attribute, one that we should wear on our sleeves so to speak.

    Creating successful transformations from any patterned behavior requires an initial period of discipline before the newly chosen behavior becomes the norm.  We perform regular functions so often, many times we find we do them without even thinking about them.

    This is what I have found to be true of recovery.  In the beginning I would entertain thoughts of using.  What kept me from acting those out?  I was also learning new behavior at the time.  The new behavior I was learning was to seek help with my thinking problem.  Sharing with other like-minded people, that I was having these thoughts, removed the power from them.

    Over time, many months to over a year, the thoughts of using drugs or alcohol became less and less.  To the point where, I can honestly say, I do not think about that anymore — ever.  I am keenly aware, however, that the absence of cravings or obsession does not make me somehow “fixed” of my addictive nature.

    You can see why a program of recovery from addictive or compulsive behaviors suggests that a person go to meetings on a daily basis.  When we place our-selves in the rooms with other like-minded people, we are not only building energy upon our new sober thinking, but we are using the collective thoughts of the group to strengthen our resolve.

    In order to manifest your hearts desires you must follow some simple steps.

    1. You must believe it is possible.
    2. You must acknowledge you are capable of creating it.
    3. You must set your thoughts in motion to creating this.
    4. You must be disciplined in keeping your mind focused on the task.
    5. Keeping in mind there is no such thing as time; remember to be grateful that what you wish already exists.  In the program we call this “acting as if.”

    Many times we allow our impatience to sidetrack us from our goals.  We tire of all the work and no apparent movement towards our respective task.  Ultimately, we give up and say things like, “oh well, it just wasn’t meant to be.”  I call hogwash on the concept of “meant to be.”  If some things are “meant to be”, then, others would be “not meant to be.”

    If that is the case then we really do not have free will and we are simply the pawn in some sick twisted game being played out by a higher life form.  If you believe the latter, you may want to ask yourself; what would the purpose of physicality be for the creator of all of this?

    I am aware of the challenges of being disciplined in our thoughts.  Negativity can creep in and  take  way our momentum.  I find a few things can help to keep us on our path.

    • Having a vision board
    • Having an accountability buddy
    • Being involved in a group of like-minded people.
    • Starting the day with a reminder that what you wish is already in existence
    • Ending the day with thanks for the experience of the journey
    • Taking at least one action per day towards your goal

    These are just a few of the ways we can remain true to our commitments.  If you have others please feel free to share them in the comments section below.  What works for you?  What hasn’t worked?  How can we support you?  How can you support us?

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional and auriculotherapist.  He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation.  You can visit his website here for more information. To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)