If one believes in “Things happen for a reason” and “God knows what will happen tomorrow”, does one still have free will? What about self accountability and living in the present?
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There’s always Free Will. It’s called Your Choices.
Living in the present is what we should do, but you also need to take accountability for your past. If not, you just become a ball of unsolved issues and will more than likely repeat things. There’s a cycle that must be broken/changed. What was the cause of the Roman Empires fall?
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The fact you’re asking the question is a good sign I think.
The first and most important thing (at least, as far as it goes with the mission of Talking Sober, to come together in recovery from addiction) - the important thing is, what does this mean for my recovery?
I don’t think it matters that much for recovery. Whether I have free will or not (and all the shades of gray between the two: it’s not an either-or question; it’s shades of gray) - whether I have free will or not, I can tell you if I did my addiction or not. I can also tell you that paths I have followed have been helpful, or not helpful. I can tell you that following helpful paths has a helpful effect on my recovery. (Helpful paths includes finding knowledgeable people in recovery, people who have walked their paths to recovery and have racked up the time to prove it, and learning from those people, then putting that learning into practice.)
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For me, personally, every time I have had doubts about my own free will or my own choices it has been a sign that I’m feeling powerless, and feeling powerless, for me, is the signature move of my addiction: my addiction sweeps over me like a wave. I am powerless to stop the wave; this is no average wave, this is a tsunami, and I just do my best to hide, but I am powerless to stop the wave.
To me, the addiction is the tsunami. Where I am right now in my development, I am currently incapable of stopping a tsunami. It doesn’t matter whether I have free will or not. That’s not the question. The real question is “holy moly here comes a tsunami”, which isn’t really a question, it’s just a desperate feeling of fear.
So I need to learn from people who have learned how to build their home in places that are safe from tsunamis. It is possible. You choose where you live, what materials you use to build your house, and how you maintain your home.
How are you maintaining your home? Are you trying to find safe ground, to protect you from tsunamis?
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I appreciate and respect you Brother, but I think and believe, that I don’t need to think about my past. Move forward and carry on as the present is the only place where we live. I have a hard time when people say, “Things happen for a reason.” Very unfortunate and that philosophy takes away from Independence. Thank you for your insight.
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Much respect man. I just find the discussions and thinkings interesting. I definitely believe the past should die in order to move on. We can’t dwell in it or we won’t move on to better things. I just think that some things of our past have to be reconciled for we have caused and changed the patterns of others with our actions. Improving ourselves in the present and showing it does that, but we can’t ignore the pain we’ve caused until it is forgiven by those who are willing to forgive. Have to try. I’ll shut up now. Just enjoy when we as humans can discuss things of such nature
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Great topic . This is how I feel . I need to acknowledge and take accountability for my actions in the past ,make amends to those I have hurt .and not use my feel will in the present but have my higher power take care of what is and what needs to be .I hope this makes sense I’m tired
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