I try really hard not to take other peoples inventories... However, I am not blind to what I see in the people who go to the meetings I attend. I wondered often how some come to the fellowship, stay clean, and continue to struggle with the most basic parts of the program... I know some are sicker than others and we recover at different rates, but... Who really gets it? In my mind I used to judge people who couldn't seem to stop acting out and then would come to the meetings and 'dump' all that crap and pain on the rest of the group, over and over. Then one day I came across the passage in our text that talks about "reaching a point where we are gone beyond recall." I thought this referred to people going over the edge to complete insanity, but mightn't it also apply to people who are only going to be able to progress so far? Might some peoples minds be so devastated by the disease and it's accompanying insanity that their fractured personalities can only heal to a certain point? Maybe these poor souls really are doing the very best they can and just don't have the ability to acquire the living skills necessary to move any further into recovery. I'm grateful today for the proof that this program works even though it may have limitations and that even the sickest of us can find some relief and stay clean. With this new awareness I will try harder to show compassion instead of self righteousness and love instead of judgement to these poor unfortunates... God grant me serenity... Thanks for listening
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"With a sweet tongue of kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair." ~Persian Proverb
I believe that this program can work miracles if we work it. The steps will take us as far in recovery as we're willing to go. So I think think that any addict, no matter how sick, can make great strides in their recovery, if they are willing to do the work. True, some are sicker than others, and it will therefore take some longer than others, but recovery is possible if we work for it.
I really like the way you think Dan...... I belive that we need to show understanding and not judgement to those who have chosen to travel the same path as we do. I also belive that some compassion doesn't go astray with these poor unfortunates. I just thank God that I'm able to remain teachable and continue to grow in NA........
Indeed, compassion and tolerance for those who may be "gone beyond recall". Sometimes there are aspects of me to which that applies-I call it drain bamage. (brain damage)
However IMHO there are also some who are just plain (fill in the blank "negative" description) whether clean or not-for example, bigots are often content to remain bigoted even when seeming to work the program. Some people just don't "get it".
This is a complete program for those who want it, not for those who just want some of it, preferably on their terms (however gussied up in robo-recovery speak). Glad there is always this day, for me-and anyone else, to make the changes that need to be made!
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From dying and surviving to living and thriving. LeeU
you hit a nerve here and this is MY shit; I have as you say fratured personalities... manay have written here and to me this is my meeting place for fear of leaving my home for I don't know what is safe anymore thar security was robbed from me not from my addiction but from someone in my life going against doctors oath and now has paid foer that mistake in many ways some times I think he is still here posting a nd reading as I share but has taken different names to do so NO I am not delusional m new doctor tells me if I have to ask if I am delusional then most likely I am right where I need to be for whatrI have gone thru is not normal in anyones world not just Rayne's world or whoever come here that is a part of me to share their pain we are all real just in fragments with hope that maybe one day I can be whole again... the new shrink I have has helped in many ways but there is still work to be done See DAn I am still a work in progress a miracle in progress I have to relearn to step out into the abyss that I fear I want my life back b4 the Drama it is hard to look past something that has scared me in sesveral ways but I am doing my best and remeber my friend it's all about progress not perfection Manon
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Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. Og Mandino
Thanks everyone for your replies. I hope I didn't offend anyone, for that certainly was not my intent. As I grow in this process I am developing a deep and abiding respect for our literature. The text says in one place that 'everything we know is subject to revision, especially what we know about the truth." The longer I stay clean and work the program, the more aware I become of just how little I really know, and how much there is to learn... Thanks for being here...
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"With a sweet tongue of kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair." ~Persian Proverb
