==========================================
PRINCIPLES: ADDICTION & RECOVERY TIPS & TALKS
        Vol.1, No.16                         August 25, 2000
==========================================


=====TABLE OF CONTENTS=====

=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS
=====THINGS YOU ALREADY KNEW, BUT...
=====TIP & TALK FEATURE ARTICLE
=====SPONSOR'S SPOT
=====A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY
=====FEATURED LINK
=====PURE BOLOGNA
=====SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE / COMMENT


=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS=====

PUBLICATION: Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips &
Talks is published every Friday morning by Charles
Roper, who also offers you the website: Alcohol & Drug
Abuse - An Addiction & Recovery Information &
Resources Treasure Chest. Please pay a visit.
http://alcoholanddrugabuse.com

DISTRIBUTION: Principles is distributed only to
subscribers. If you have received this newsletter by
mistake, please accept our apologies, and find
UNSUBSCRIBE instructions at the bottom of this page.

PRIVACY: I will NEVER publish, give, loan, or sell your
e-mail address to anyone. Never - No way - No how.

Thanks...Charles Roper


=====THINGS YOU ALREADY KNEW, BUT...=====

"The first peace, which is the most important, is that
which comes within the soul of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize [that] at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us."
---Black Elk


=====TIP & TALK FEATURED ARTICLE=====

RECOVERY TIP: Recovery shows.

1. Spiritual growth (internal change) encourages positive behaviors (external change).

2. Positive behaviors (external change) encourage spiritual growth (internal change).

RECOVERY TIP TALK: In its truest sense, recovery happens on the inside--in one's mind and heart. But it's fully visible on the outside--in one's behavior.

The deep and profound alterations in one's "internal being" that we call "recovery" take many forms, in which old ways of being in the world transform into new ways of being in the world.

> Faith replaces fear.
> Humility replaces pride.
> Gratitude replaces self-pity.
> Acceptance replaces resentment.
> Honesty replaces dishonesty.
> Trust replaces cynicism.
> Connectedness replaces isolation.
> Reliance on God's will replaces reliance on self-will.
> Quiet mind replaces busy mind.
> Willingness replaces resistance.
> Serenity replaces agitation.

Since behavior is the outward expression of what is within, our behavior toward ourselves, other people, and our Higher Power naturally changes as our thoughts, feelings, and character changes.

But here's an interesting question: Which is the chicken, and which is the egg? In other words:

Do we work on our "program of spiritual growth and change" (the internals) in order to encourage the behavior changes (the externals) to take place? Or,

Do we consciously change our behaviors (the externals) and practice the "new" behaviors until the principles that they represent become engrained in our minds and hearts (the internals)?

The answer is surprisingly simple. It's "Yes." We do both, and it works both ways. One feeds on the other. It's like, the chicken "is" the egg, and vice versa.


=====SPONSOR'S SPOT=====

Why read the book High Bottom Drunk?

High Bottom Drunk gave me a wonderful perspective on spiritual recovery. It puts AA principles right in the middle of real-life blood & guts. I can now actually see 'how it works.'" ---D.A., Kerrville, Texas

High Bottom Drunk: A Novel...and the Truth about Addiction & Recovery, by Charles N. Roper, PhD.

Read excerpts of High Bottom Drunk: A Novel... at the Website:
http://www.highbottomdrunk.com


=====A BUDDHIST PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY=====

In The Zen of Recovery, Mel Ash tells the following story:

I was telling my five-year-old son Aren about our new computer and how "smart" it is. Aren said that sticks are smart, too. He had just returned home from a hike in the woods. He told me he had thrown a stick into a pond and that it had floated around a big rock instead of getting hung up on it. He thought that was pretty smart. If I had thrown our computer in the pond, it would have sunk like a rock, he said.

The stick, I had to admit, was probably "smarter" than our computer when it came to basic survival. Like the inherent, natural wisdom of Aren's stick, we can learn to practice management principles that even sticks and children understand. There is no better place to be than right here and now, acting intuitively in a state of spontaneous grace, without the weight of calculating "smartness." We can drown like the computer because of our heavy, discriminating minds, or we can float safely through the waters of our lives with the spontaneous wisdom of the stick, which understood and acted out its stickness without getting stuck.

From: The Zen of Recovery, by Mel Ash. New York: Tarcher/Perigee Books, 1993.


=====LINK OF THE WEEK=====

This week's featured link is from The Centre for Recovery, a recovery orientated street agency for people with problems arising from their own or someone else's substance misuse. The Centre is based in Aberystwyth, in the county of Ceredigion, in West Wales (UK).

The website provides interesting and informative material suitable for all types of people - teenagers, parents, school teachers, doctors, substance abusers, family members - to name but a few.

Visit the site at:
http://www.recovery.org.uk


=====PURE BOLOGNA=====

The CIA had an opening for an assassin. Through extensive background checks & interviews, they whittled the list down to three finalists--two men and a woman.

For the final test, the CIA agents took one of the men to a large metal door, handed him a gun, and said, "We must know that you will follow your instructions, no matter what the circumstances. Inside of this room, you will find your wife sitting in a chair. Your instructions are to kill her."

The man said, "You can't be serious. I could never shoot my wife."

The agent replied, "Then you're not the right man for this job."

The second man was given the same instructions. He took the gun and went into the room. All was quiet for about five minutes. Then the man came out with tears in his eyes. "I tried," he said, "but I can't kill my wife."

The agent said, "You don't have what it takes. Take your wife and go home."

Finally, it was the woman's turn. She was given the same instructions to kill her husband. She took the gun and went into the room.

Shots were heard--one shot after another. They heard
screaming, crashing, banging on the walls. After a few
minutes, all was quiet. Then the door opened slowly and there stood the woman--sweating and disheveled.

She wiped the sweat from her brow, and said, "Sorry I made so much racket, but this gun was loaded with blanks. I had to beat him to death with the chair."
 
Submitted by: A fairly decent guy who had a bad experience with his ex-wife.
 
 
=====SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE/COMMENT=====

To SUBSCRIBE to this publication, send any e-mail to:
Mailto:Principles-Newsletter-subscribe@egroups.com

To UNSUBSCRIBE from this publication, send any e-mail to:
Mailto:Principles-Newsletter-unsubscribe@egroups.com
  
To COMMENT &/or SUBMIT INFORMATION, send e-mail to:
Mailto:Principles-Newsletter-owner@egroups.com

==========================

Till next week...do us all a favor and keep it simple.

Charles Roper, Editor
Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips & Talks

Alcohol & Drug Abuse - The Addiction & Recovery Information & Resources Website:
http://www.alcoholanddrugabuse.com