|
=====TABLE OF CONTENTS=====
=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS
=====INTERESTING IDEAS & ISSUES
=====READERS' COMMENTS
=====FEATURE ARTICLE
=====SPONSORS
=====EASTERN PERSPECTIVES
=====FEATURED LINK
=====PURE BOLOGNA
=====SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE
=====EDITOR'S COMMENTS=====
PRIVACY: I will never publish, give, loan, or sell your email address to anyone. Never - No way - No how.
DISTRIBUTION: God willing, Principles hits cyberspace once a week--sometime between Thursday evening and Friday
morning. Find Subscribe & Unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of this page.
CONTRIBUTE: I'd love to hear your comments, questions, & ideas. I don't answer every email, but I do read every one, and I answer
many. Email me at: <a href="mailto:Newsletter-Principles-owner@egroups.com"> AOL
Click Here </a>
Thanks...Charles Roper
=====INTERESTING IDEAS & ISSUES=====
In the early 1970's when the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and NIDA were made distinct entities,
there arose an unscientific division between alcoholism and other addictions. Actually alcohol fits into the same addiction
pathway. Its effects are mediated by several neurotransmitters, in contrast to other drugs that may be mediated by one or two,
but it fits this common pathway of dopamine/nucleus accumbens as well. That's the basis of the disease theory as we see it today.
Alcoholism has been called a disease for a long time, but we couldn't demonstrate the mechanisms of it like we can now.
--Robert Morse, MD
=====READER'S COMMENTS=====
Regarding the discussion on Denial:
A Healthy Dose of Denial? If you have a healthy dose of denial, how in the world do you know it is a healthy dose if you are in
denial?
Balancing Denial? How can you possibly balance that which denies the truth with the truth? It's like saying "don't be aware that
you are aware, lest you have too much awareness."
I can understand how we need to come to awareness in pieces. Too much at once can be too much to handle. But if we're not even
aware enough to know that there can be no such thing as healthy denial, or a balance of denial, then how in the world will we
ever become aware enough to be that which we are?
--LB
Please email your ideas & issues to: <a href="mailto:Principles-Newsletter-owner@egroups.com"> AOL
Click Here </a>
=====FEATURED ARTICLE=====
RECOVERY THOUGHT:
God is and always has been the God of our understanding.
RECOVERY TALK:
Regardless of how we come to "understand" God, our personal understanding is the one we have. And it changes. For many of us,
it changes a lot. Indeed, it may never stay the same from one moment to the next.
We understand God one way as children, another as adolescents, another as adults, another as alcoholics, addicts, and
codependents, another in early recovery, and yet another in later recovery.
Is one understanding right and the others wrong? Of course not.
I tend to bristle at the suggestion that God is only one certain something and not another. I always want to say, "How the heck do
you know, and besides, what possible difference does it make? If God is God, then surely God doesn't care how we understand God."
When we are truly free to understand and define God for ourselves, we invariably settle into one that is essentially an
extension or our deepest yearnings and noblest hopes. It is one that we feel a part of and not apart from.
I have a dear friend who calls himself an atheist. I asked him one time what, then, were his spiritual beliefs. He said, "Well,
I think you just get up in the morning and be the best person you can be as long as you're awake, and then you go to bed." I figure
he's not really an atheist at all. In fact, I think he may be on to something.
=====PRIMARY SPONSOR=====
Going into its Second Printing: High Bottom Drunk: A Novel...and the Truth about Addiction &
Recovery, by Charles N. Roper, PhD.
"...Not only did it knock my socks off, I believe that they landed in the next state! This book has given a contemporary
connection to alcoholism and drug addiction that I have found frustratingly lacking in the Big Book of AA. I hope to be able to
share it with a sponsee someday." --C.
Order "High Bottom Drunk" directly from the publisher, through the www.highbottomdrunk.com
website, and receive two free gifts (modest but useful) with each copy.
http://www.highbottomdrunk.com <a
href="http://www.highbottomdrunk.com"> AOL
Click Here </a>
=====AN EASTERN PERSPECTIVE ON RECOVERY=====
In Buddhism, our effort is to practice mindfulness in each moment--to know what is going on within and all around us.
When the Buddha was asked, "Sir, what do you and your monks practice?" he replied, "We sit, we walk, and we eat."
The questioner continued, "But sir, everyone sits, walks, and eats." And the Buddha told him, "When we sit, we
know we are sitting. When we walk, we know we are walking. When we eat, we
know we are eating."
Most of the time, we are lost in the past or carried away by future projects and concerns. When we are mindful, touching
deeply the present moment, we can see and listen deeply, and the fruits are always understanding, acceptance, love, and desire to
relieve suffering and bring joy. When our beautiful child comes up to us and smiles, we are completely there for her.
From: Living Buddha, Living Christ, by Thich Nhat Hanh.
=====SPONSORS=====
For practical lessons in self-compassion, check out the work of Thom Rutledge:
<a href="http://www.webpowers.com/thomrutledge"> AOL Click Here
</a>
=====
Website design, redesign, hosting, promotion, and eBusiness
solutions at honest, affordable prices.
<a href="http://www.hostingbydesign.com"> AOL Click Here </a>
=====LINK OF THE WEEK=====
This week's featured link is: TakeTheTest.org
Are you an Alcoholic? A Drug Addict? A Sex Addict? A Compulsive Gambler? A Codependent? Here's a site that offers quizzes to test your level of abuse/addiction to
various substances & behaviors.
Visit the site at:
<a href="http://www.takethetest.org"> Take the Test </a>
=====PURE BOLOGNA & HOGWASH=====
A guy rushes into a bar and orders seven straight shots of whiskey, and he downs them just as fast as the bartender can pour
them.
"Drinking kinda fast, aren't ya, fella?" the bartender asks as he's pouring number seven.
"You'd drink fast too if you had what I have!" says the man.
"What do you have?" asks the bartender.
"About fifty cents," says the drunk.
=====SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE/COMMENT=====
To SUBSCRIBE to this publication, send any e-mail to:
<a href="Mailto:Principles-Newsletter-subscribe@egroups.com"> AOL
Click Here </a>
To UNSUBSCRIBE from this publication, send any e-mail to:
<a href="mailto:Principles-Newsletter-unsubscribe@egroups.com">
AOL Click Here </a>
==========================
Alrighty, then...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 Web site:
<a href="http://www.alcoholanddrugabuse.com">
http://www.alcoholanddrugabuse.com
</a>
|
