Hello again, Codependent, thanks for posting. First, the actual quote: "Higher mental and emotional functions, such as conscience and the ability to love were sharply affected by our use of drugs. Living skills were reduced to the animal level. Our spirit was broken. The capacity to feel human was lost. This seems extreme, but many of us have been in this state of mind." from chap. One "Who Is An Addict?"
Notice the last thought in this paragraph, it's talking about our state of mind. Active addiction, at the bitter end, took me to a place where the only thought, the only thing of any importance, the driving force in my life, was the need for "just one more." The denial and self-centeredness of addiction prevented me from seeing the reality of what my life had become- a never ending search for "just one more." I had almost no conscience and didn't care who I hurt in the process of finding ways and means to get that "one more." My living skills (ie. coping skills, social skills, etc.) had been replaced by survival skills (dishonesty, manipulation, self-deception). Use, Eat, Sleep, Wake up, Find a way to Use again. Spiritually bankrupt, I was only a shell of the person I had been. Isolated and alienated from anyone who loved me, I had lost the ability to even feel human. Self loathing and worthlessness, hopelessness and despair dominated my life and thinking. Thoughts of suicide began to take root in my mind.
In this sorry state I arrived at the doors of NA. Then Hope entered in. Hope is the very first Spiritual Principle I was introduced to in Narcotics Anonymous. Hope is, arguably, the ONLY Spiritual Principle that can be given away. Maybe, just maybe, if these addicts I saw in the meetings could stay clean and recover, so could I. Hope kept me coming long enough to find that place of surrender, and surrender led me to acceptance. Today I have regained many of those living skills, my spirit has awakened and begun to grow, my state of mind has been transformed. Another place in the text it says "It is a great gift to feel human again." And yes, empathy is not only possible, it is a vitl part of recovery. We experience it in our meetings every time an addict struggles to find the words to express his or her feelings. The book says empathy is a "healing balm" for addicts. Only another addict can offer this unique intangible. It is part of the therapeutic value of one addict helping another, and an important part of the identification process.
One more quote, if you can stand one, "Today, secure in the love of the fellowship, we can finally look another human being in the eye and be grateful for who we are." It does get better over time, but not over night, They say time takes time, so give yourself a break, keep coming, and as you do you will come to your own understanding. Thanks again for th etopic, it's a great one. Dan H.

-- Edited by dan h at 05:30, 2008-08-27

I'm thinking that animals get a bad rap here with this concept. If you study animals and watch them, they are not self centered, not greedy, don't hoard, not wasteful, not dishonest, not deceitful, do not hold grudges, do not act with mal-intent. They simply go about the business of taking care of themselves and their families and we could stand to learn a lot from them. I often wonder what they (and the consciousness of Mother Earth) think of us f'up humans. I'm in the middle of building a house on top of a mountain in the NC Blueridge and I'm looking forward to seeing nothing but my wife and animals for weeks at a time. Although I've learn to accept that humans are flawed individuals, I'm done with most of them and looking forward to a time when my relationships with animals outnumber humans by 10 to 1

Dean

fab share DEAN,,
I really appreciate that..
most of all,,I know for certain that when I play my sax for a living,,,a little animal magnetism does help;;ha !