=====TABLE OF CONTENTS=====
          NOTES
          EDITOR'S COMMENTS
          FEATURED ARTICLE: TIP & TALK
          SPONSOR'S SPOT
          WHAT WOULD BUDDHA DO?
          SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE/COMMENT

  
=====NOTES=====

Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips & Talks is published every Friday morning by the folks at Alcohol & Drug Abuse (.com).

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

Thanks for taking the time to breeze through this week's issue of Principles.

The idea for today's Tip & Talk Featured Article comes from someone known to me only as "B.G., Turning Point Group." If anyone knows who "B.G." is, please let me know so that I may thank him or her for a little slice of wisdom that I have used many times over the years.

If you have comments about and/or suggestions for Principles, or if you would like to submit a Tip & Talk article or story, please contact me through the newsletter address listed at the bottom of this page.

Principles is edited by Charles N. Roper.

 
=====FEATURED ARTICLE=====

RECOVERY TIP:
"Sobriety does not make us good. It may, however, help us feel good about ourselves."

RECOVERY TIP TALK:
If I heard it once in early sobriety, I heard it a million times: "Don't drink or do drugs, and keep coming back."

Allowing that simple directive to linger in my feeble mind helped me stay clean and sober long enough to understand how over-simplified the directive is. And by the time that happened, I was hooked.

In it strictest sense, sobriety--abstaining from the use of alcohol and drugs--does not change who we are. Abstinence opens doors to real change--that is, to physical, mental, and spiritual recovery. Abstinence doesn't force us through those doors, but it does open them. And that brings us to B.G.'s contribution:

"12 Things Sobriety Does and Does Not Give"

1. Sobriety does not make us good, but it does give us a chance to feel good about ourselves.

2. Sobriety does not give us sanity, but it does offer us a chance to recognize the difference between sanity and insanity in our day-to-day lives.

3. Sobriety does make all of our troubles disappear, but it does help us think logically and cope positively with life's problems.

4. Sobriety does not make people love us, but it does open the door for us to become more loving and lovable people.

5. Sobriety does not make us morally right, but it does give us a chance to understand right from wrong.

6. Sobriety does not make us honest, but it does open the door to understanding the difference between honest and dishonest--between truth and lies.

7. Sobriety does not make us humble or spiritual, but it does give us a chance to experience humility--the essence of spirituality.

8. Sobriety does not give us instant insight into who we are as human beings, but it does offer us the opportunity to take an honest look at ourselves.

9. Sobriety does not give us courage, but it does take away one of our biggest defenses against fear.

10. Sobriety does not give us emotional balance, but it does give us a chance to experience our feelings--both positive and negative.

11. Sobriety does not give us open-mindedness, but it does remove some of our blocks against learning, changing, and growing in positive ways.

12. Sobriety does not give us salvation, but it does remove some of the barriers to our acquiring and sustaining a relationship with a power greater than our selves (our egos).

In the final analysis, sobriety--abstinence--opens doors. It is our responsibility to walk, tip-toe, or crawl through those doors.

  
=====SPONSOR'S SPOT=====

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

Within the context of an immensely powerful story populated with fascinating characters, Charles Roper offers the key to understanding the true nature of addiction and recovery.

"I thought I understood what recovery means. I was wrong. Now I get it, and it blows me away. High Bottom Drunk is like highly potent self-help fiction." --S.V., Tampa, FL

Review High Bottom Drunk: A Novel... at the Website: http://www.highbottomdrunk.com

 
=====WHAT WOULD BUDDHA DO?=====

What would Buddha do if someone hates him?

"Not by hate is hate defeated; hate is quenched by love. This is the eternal law." --Dhammapada 5

In these few words Buddha teaches what might be the greatest spiritual law. The Roman poet Virgil wrote "love conquers all." I believe there are things love is not well-suited to conquer, but love is perfectly suited to conquer hate. Why? Because it is so hard for hate to combat. Violence, revenge, sometimes even civil disobedience, add to the tremendous energy embodied in hatred. Love, on the other hand, takes the energy of hate and redirects it, as a martial artist might--only here the arts are not of war but of love. As the song tells us, "Only love can conquer hate."

Love confronts hate in the one way hate cannot comprehend--with something beyond itself--with compassion. Hate cannot go beyond itself. It draws its strength from the self's defense of self. Love lives to go beyond itself, drawing its strength from that very act. Love can thus comprehend hate, integrating it into something larger. Slowly hate is defeated, as a grain of salt dissolves into the sweetness of a pond.

From: "What Would Buddha Do? 101 Answers to Life's Daily Dilemmas" by Franz Metcalf.

  
=====LINK OF THE WEEK=====

This week's featured link is: Addiction and Zen: The Benefits of Zen Meditation in Addiction and Recovery.

This nice, simple, clean site offers a meditation intervention guide and handbook for addicts--especially those in recovery--and their families. The handbook was originally written by Mary Heath for the Zen Group of Western Australia in 1997.

Visit the Addiction and Zen Website: http://www.viacorp.com/addiction.html

  
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Till next week...keep it simple (don't take yourself so seriously).

Charles Roper, Editor
Principles: Addiction & Recovery Tips & Talks
  
http://www.alcoholanddrugabuse.com