I have mentioned it before, and I'll mention it again and again and again - addiction and depression are self-centered dis-eases. I become concerned mainly with how I am feeling and what I can do to make myself feel better. If I'm thinking of you, it's probably about what I think you can do to help me feel better.
Ceasing using alcohol or other drugs does not relieve me of my self-centeredness. Taking medication for my mental health condition will not relieve me of my selfishness. And the kicker is that if I do not get rid of my obsessive concern for self, I will not stay long in recovery. If I remain in a self-centered state for very long, no matter how well I'm doing otherwise, I will enter into a state of self-pity, and possibly resentment, and that's just one step away from physically relapsing (returning to use of alcohol or drugs).
So if I want to stay in recovery, I must become willing to learn what my obsession with self looks like (how it shows up) as well as learning what steps I can take to reduce this symptom of my dis-ease. The bad news and the good news is that I can't do this alone. I can't unwrap myself from myself all by myself.
So what's a person to do? I can start in a few ways: I can pray to my Higher Power that I be relieved of this fatal obsession with self; I can seek out others who are on the same path (recovery meetings and support groups); or I can do both. I can just about guarantee that if I pray and remain open to the answer, I'll be led to people who can help me in my endeavor.
Speaking of which, now might be a good time to bring up an interesting paradox: in doing this, my main focus is still on me; it just changes from 'how am I feeling' to 'what am I doing?' There is one codicil - I must give up my expectations. An expectation is, 'If I do a, then b will happen (to me or for me).' Expectations are ego-driven, self-serving, and ultimately bad for my serenity and mental health, because there is no way that my expectations are going to be met all the time. The problem is that if I have an expectation, and, by some miracle of the Universe it gets met by my actions, then I expect (another expectation!) that the next time it will happen again. Often it doesn't work that way, and my little me, my ego, tends to become disappointed and pouts, which leads to self-pity and probably resentment and most likely depression and there I am in the depths of my dis-ease. That really is the way it works.
What I'm talking about here is learning to freely give of myself. If you're a fan of the Bible, you'll know that Jesus suggests we 'freely give and freely receive'. What does that mean? It means I learn to give of myself without reservation, building my faith that I live in a giving and supportive Universe - that whatever I give freely and without expectation will return to me, probably in excess of what I gave. We live in an abundant, giving Universe, but the ego, which is built out of fear, does not believe that. My ego believes that I must take or I'm not going to get. I can get as sneaky and manipulative as I want about the way in which I take, but ultimately, the longer I live with this mindset, the poorer I'll be.
Our human society teaches us just the opposite. Capitalism teaches us that we aren't enough and we can never have enough - that we must always strive for more, more, more, and it puts us in competition with others, meaning that in order for me to win, somebody must lose. This is in direct conflict with giving and receiving freely. This doesn't mean that I can't live in this society, it just means I need to stay awake to what I'm doing and to what or who is informing my choices.
So doing this, becoming a giver without expectations, is a challenge for any human being, and an even greater challenge for a person living with a substance use or mental health disorder.
Ok, let's get back to the mechanics of how this actually works. I mentioned earlier that I require the support and cooperation of others in this endeavor. Where do I find these others? Support and mutual aid groups. Groups of people who are also interested in recovery. The really cool thing is that when groups of like minded people get together, great things can happen. So I look for support, but here's the twist - before I go into a recovery meeting or a support group, I pray that I may be a blessing and be blessed. Why? My experience has been that if I go into a situation expecting to receive a certain thing or see a certain person, there's at least a 50/50 chance that I'll be disappointed. However, when I release that expectation and go into a situation seeing what I can give, I always receive something in return - some understanding, a new friendship, a nugget of wisdom, some peace of mind, etc. I've placed myself physically in a good place and mentally and spiritually in a place of reception.
The question naturally arises, "But what do I have to give?" I've found, by practicing this mental mindset, that I have a lot more to give than I believe I do. There is always going to be someone who could use something I have to give.
I can take this attitude anywhere I go - work, social situations, in the supermarket! When I'm waiting in a long line with my basket full of goodies and I finally arrive at the checkout, I can give the underpaid and underappreciated cashier a smile, a kind word, or at least not give him/her a hard time because I'm impatient.
I have intentionally not given very specific instructions on how to reach this giving mindset - you must do this, this, this, and that in order to achieve this - for two reasons: first, it sets up and expectation, which we know are good to avoid, and second, the way each person gives and receives looks different.
Living with this spiritual/mental mindset, which concentrates on the process rather than the results (leaving the results up to the Universe) relieves me of having to figure out ways to make myself feel better because living this way gives me peace and confidence, and strengthens my faith. The challenge for me is to do it every day. I've been told that it is possible to make this a habit that I don't even have to think about, but I haven't experienced that yet. Besides, I get a little boost when I consciously try to behave like I'm a child of God.
Namasté,
Ken
No comments:
Post a Comment