Summary: First stage recovery is about fitting in; next stage recovery is about becoming your true self. What is meant by “first stage” recovery? First stage recovery is about overcoming addictions and becoming a functional, responsible member of society. Besides attainment of a degree of serenity, the overall goal, as described in AA literature, is …
In recovery circles, you often hear the admonition that “feelings aren’t facts.” But nobody explains just exactly what that means; it is usually stated as though its meaning is self-evident. But it’s not self-evident. In fact, unexplained, that statement can easily lead the listener into making a huge mistake: i.e. discounting ALL of their feelings, …
Feelings May Not Be Facts, But They Sure Are Information Read More »
My experience with people in recovery via the Twelve Steps is that they can sometimes have a distorted understanding of the concept of “self.” And I believe that that misunderstanding is rooted, in large part, in the general poverty of the English language when it comes to issues of spirituality and spiritual growth. Here’s a …
Achieving major life goals is an important element of life’s journey. I enjoy it. I enjoy helping people I work with to achieve theirs. However, I have a nagging concern about goal achievement, especially as it is presented within the Life Coaching community. My experience is that, very often, perhaps most of the time, achievement …
External Goal Achievement vs. Internal Spiritual Growth Read More »
There’s an old joke about a little boy digging his way through a railroad car full of horse manure. Somebody asks him why he’s doing it, and the little boy answers excitedly: “There’s gotta be a pony in here somewhere!” This well-worn joke contains a message for many of us who are called to a …
I don’t know about you, but in my experience, very often verbal sharing and written documents about recovery tend to idealize it; i.e. to focus almost exclusively on the positive or happy side of recovery and to focus on the elegant and idealized spiritual principles underlying recovery. To me, this gives newcomers and even people …
“It gets better!” is a refrain commonly heard in and around the rooms of recovery. That’s because it’s true. Over time in recovery, our lives generally DO “get better.” Our lives improve in terms of both externals and internals. Often, sharing will focus on improvement to what I call the externals of life, which includes …
