Thank you for this. I needed to read this. I have finally found my way back to your thread and I ought to start at the beginning but I couldn’t help skipping ahead - I was always the type to skip ahead in books I was reading because I’d get anxious! I’m excited to read about your perspectives and learning here.
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No thanks needed.
from “The Pocket Thich Nhat Hanh (Shambhala Pocket Classics)” by Thich Nhat Hanh, Melvin McLeod -
“Sometimes we may believe that we are acting from love, but if our action is not based in deep understanding, it will bring suffering. You want to make someone happy, and you believe very strongly that you are doing something out of love. But your action may make the other person suffer very much.”
Something I try to remind myself when helping a newcomer here. It is so easy to only look at the addiction, and treat everyone one the same. We are unique, and to minimize harm…we gotta know the individual
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from “The Pocket Thich Nhat Hanh (Shambhala Pocket Classics)” by Thich Nhat Hanh, Melvin McLeod -
“The conviction that we know the truth and that those who do not share our beliefs are wrong has caused a lot of harm. When we believe something to be the absolute truth, we have become caught in our own views. If we believe, for instance, that Buddhism is the only way to happiness, we may be practicing a kind of violence by discriminating against and excluding those who follow other spiritual paths. When we are caught in our views, we are not seeing and understanding in accord with reality. Being caught in our views can be very dangerous and block the opportunity for us to gain a deeper wisdom.”
This is why I am here. As an active alcoholic, I had to be right…I dont want to live that way, I dont want my self views of how things go keep me from growing.
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Practiced mindfulness this morning
Picked strawberries. For an hour and a half I concentrated on the smell, feel, and taste(once in awhile). I cleared my thoughts of work. I was able to shut out all voices, and enjoy the moment. The feel on the tips of my fingers.
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@Thirdmonkey… journey has been rich! Super rich. I’ve been mostly out of cell phone range, for the past week - for work. Unable to post. Unable to make online mtgs. Able to read and journal. Lotsa eurekas!
Will post when I get thru these travels and home to my desk - tomorrow!
But this first - from the Recovery Dharma book:
We started to recover when we let ourselves believe in
the part of us that’s still there beneath all those layers
we’ve collected and built—the pure, radiant, courageous
heart where we find our potential for awakening. Who
were we before the world got to us? Who are we beyond
the obsession of our conditioned minds? Who are we
beneath all our walls and heartbreak?
Despite the trauma, addiction, fear, and shame, there is a still and
centered part of us that remains whole. There is a part of
us that’s not traumatized, that’s not addicted, that’s not
ruled by fear or shame. This is where wisdom comes
from, and it’s the foundation of our recovery.
Recovery, to me, is finding this pure, radiant, courageous heart - of mine - and falling in love with it.
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I just ordered the book 
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oh dear friend! would love to have you on this page-by-page (word by word!) journey!
more later. big love.
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Yes! It’s a wonderful thing
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Yay!!! Cant wait to hear what you think
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Annnnnd. I look forward what you post!
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Raises hand…yup that was me, still can be me, hopefully won’t be me…twas a great excuse to get drunk
I from “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)” by Pema Chödrön -
“Being caught by the lord of speech may start with just a reasonable conviction about what we feel to be true. However, if we find ourselves becoming righteously indignant, that’s a sure sign that we’ve gone too far and that our ability to effect change will be hindered. Beliefs and ideals have become just another way to put up walls.”
Not even affecting change in our world, or our own little part of it.
Darn I could be righteously indignant…that would leaf to anger…that would lead to black out drunk.
The more I listen to different people, learn other ways…the less indignant I am. It might not change my opinion…but it sure changes my understanding. Understanding…leads to knowledge…
At least for me
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Chapter 2 in this current book…I could triple highlight every darn word.
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from “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)” by Pema Chödrön -
“I feel gratitude to the Buddha for pointing out that what we struggle against all our lives can be acknowledged as ordinary experience. Life does continually go up and down. People and situations are unpredictable and so is everything else.”
Work has sucked, people been sucking. It’s easy to get wrapped up…that its a special “me only” sucky kinda day. Truth is…life sucks at times, and the only thing I can do about it…is control how I respond…I need to tattoo that on my arm so I can see it constantly
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Man, I relate to all of this, so much. It’s both comforting to read and also like, “Aw, shit!” 
I have a stubborn streak and when something strikes me as “wrong” or somehow fatally flawed it can really rile me up. I try very hard to be open minded and base my perceptions from a foundation of empathy but I definitely struggle at times.
And this is where I end up. Not a good place. I’m grateful to be working actively to pay attention to what’s going on with my thought processes, I suppose that’s all I can do is keep working on being better and getting reminders and inspiration from these types of sources, this deep deep wisdom that is available to me.
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from “The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)” by Pema Chödrön -
“We have two alternatives: either we question our beliefs—or we don’t. Either we accept our fixed versions of reality—or we begin to challenge them.”
I was lucky, my father preached this. I lost the ability to question my beliefs as a drunk…slowly getting back to it.
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Pema or Recovery Dharma?
Spoiler Alert: more posts to follow!
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Both? Lollll
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