Daily Reprieve

From Courage to Change of May 20:

Like alcoholism, obsessive thinking can be too much to handle. My best hope in battling it is not to begin, bacause once started, it gains steam and becomes harder to interrupt.

Before obsessive thinking takes hold, there is usually a point at which I have to make a choice. I can opt to mentally toy with a subject that has held my mind hostage in the past and is therefore dangerous. Or I can recongnize the danger and try to drop any thought of the topic from my mind, praying for my Higher Power’s help I can reach out to an Al-Anon member for support before tackling a topic to which I am vulnerable, so that my thoughts won’t have a chance to get locked inside my head.

I will exercise the power of choice by refusing the invitation of obsessive thoughts. If I don’t pick them up, I won’t have to let them go.

Today’s Reminder

I am learning to pay attention to my thinking. If there is someting I cannot contemplate without becoming obsessed, I will respect that fact and act accordingly. I will gather the strength and suppor of my Al-Anon program, my friends, and my Higher Power before I try to reason it out. And if it is none of my business, I won’t pick it up at all.

“If you work on your mind with your mind, How can you avoid an immense confusion?”

~ Seng-ts’an

END OF QUOTE—————————————

I was joking with others in my Al-Anon meeting that there should be a Ruminators Anonymous. I can remember reading a book called The Depression Cure. The premise was that our bodies have not evolved as fast as our culture and our optimum living environment was established in the hunter-gather period of our existence. It is as if we are living on another planet that requires a special suit and supplements for survival. We are aliens of our own making. I take vitamin D to replace the sunshine I miss as a result of the great indoors. I take fish oil supplements to replace the omega oils found in the wilderness that gave birth to my species but has been lost to us because of mass farming techniques. There are other things I do not remember, but I do recall his emphasis on devoloping a discipline against excessive rumination. He suggested that we allow ourselves no more than five minutes before breaking free and getting into some form of physical activity.

I also find that rumination corrupts my meditation, and thus interfers with my connection to my Higher Power. I developed some effective meditative habits from the teachings of Christopher Penczak in his book, The Inner Temple of Witchcraft. In my early days of alcoholic recovery, I looked to the Sleeping Prophet, Edgar Cayce. His method of intuitive connection fit in with one of my most personally powerful Psalms. My memory of Psalm 127:2 has said that it is vain for me to rise up early in fear, to take rest late overwhelmed with worry, for my Higher Power gives blessings even while we sleep. Falling into an inbetween place of waking and slumber is better for me than having my intuitive listening practice hijacked by rumination.

My AA Sponsor struggles as I do with the paralysis of rumination, the imprisonment of depression. He has suggested that I look into the People’s Chemist. It is a suggestion I intend to fully explore.

[ https://www.thepeopleschemist.com/ ]

I suppose the point of this reflection is that we can use the work of the collective mind to overpower the destructive habits of our individual minds. I cannot imagine what a mentally entangled life I would be leading in isolation. I am grateful.