TIME

From the Zentai Series "Beyond the 12 Steps"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time fascinates people like nothing else. Time seems to be as much a part of the human condition as the mind structures themselves. Time is conceptualized as a changing constant. It is never the same, and this provides the greatest intrigue of all. The mind personalizes time and spends great amounts of energy contemplating it. The life of the mind begins at a certain time and ends at a certain time. This is as sure as anything there is. Thus the mind makes time, the unreality; into something so ultimately real that thousands of "feelings" are generated to support the position that time is real. Grief at the loss of loved ones and anticipation of coming events are common examples of feelings that support the position that time is real. I'm stretching you again.

INTENTION

From the Zentai Series "Beyond the 12 Steps"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INTENTION


You always get what you intend. Intention is a phenomenon that happens outside of ordinary awareness, the purpose of which is to determine the course of your life events. One always gets what one intends, regardless of what the mind says about it. Intention is formulated at a level of awareness that transcends the mind. If you are out of touch with that level of awareness, the events that happen to you in life may come as a surprise. You may or may not like what happens to you in life, but either way you will experience it as a victim, and have no sense that you caused it, unless you are aware. If you are aware, on the other hand, you know that you cause the experience of everything that happens in your life. You have the choice to be satisfied and nurtured by the events in your life or victimized and embittered by them. Either way you got the experience you intended to get.

Caretaking

As long as we take care of others, solve their problems, and supply their needs, we are not required to look at ourselves and we absolve them of personal responsibility. As this trait becomes more pronounced, we lose our own identity. As children, we took on the concerns and problems of others far beyond our years and, in many cases, were deprived of a normal childhood. The attention we got caused us to believe we had some power. Taking care of others boosted our self-esteem and made us feel indispensable. It gave purpose to our life. As caretakers, we are most comfortable with chaotic situations in which we can be reassured that we are needed. We often end up as martyrs and never experience the joy of taking care of ourselves.

What does a caretaker look like? Feelings and Behavior:

Confusion

Blurry Thinking - Identifying the Static in your mind

You know things are working well when images on the TV screen are sharp, clear, and accurate. When the picture is fuzzy, wavy, snowy, or has lots of static, something's wrong. There is a lot of interference. There are problems in seeing the shows the way they are really meant to be viewed. They are distorted pictures. When you have strong feelings, it is common for you to have fuzzy, unclear, and inaccurate views of yourself, your experiences, other

Turning Into Self Acceptance

From the Zentai Series "Beyond the 12 Steps"
---------------------------------------

Turning Into Self Acceptance


How do I accept myself? The answer lies in learning to accept the reality of ourselves without necessarily agreeing with or liking all the feelings or separate components of what we are accepting. This means that we can agree with or approve of the totality, our wholeness, without agreeing with or approving of all our characteristics. This is the opposite of our training, which implies that we must be perfect before we can accept (agree with and approve of) ourselves. We can begin to accept the reality of ourselves. We can begin to accept the reality of ourselves, our totalities, as we are right now without needing to agree with or approve of all our parts, our roles, our behaviors. Acceptance does not mean understanding. Just as most of us will never understand all the complexities of life - war, famine, pain, and death - so we will never understand all the reasons for the complexity of ourselves. Acceptance does not mean change. Our acceptance of life does not change it and our acceptance of ourselves will not change us.

Crazy World

Aritcle written by Zentai in the series "Beyond the 12 Steps"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Why does everything seem so crazy? None of the confident people I know forced themselves to be that way. Instead they've learned how to let themselves be that way. They are dynamic and creative. They are at peace with themselves, But unlike those who remain trapped in a cage of self-doubt they don't try to be dynamic, creative, and peaceful. Life works naturally when we get out of the way. They let life flow without presenting obstructions. They let these qualities come through. That's the key to learning truly deep confidence.

Sexuality

Article written by Zentai in the series "Beyond the 12 Steps"

-------------------------------

Sexuality


Let's talk about sex and good gosh, why not? Everyone else does.

Talking about sex can be uncomfortable for most of us. In our society and in many of our families, it is a taboo subject. Many of us deal with sexuality through humor. Just think of all the "dirty jokes" we've told and heard over the years. For many

Death - Shifting Images



This article was written by Zentai from the series: "Beyond the 12 Steps" at the Circle for Recovery. It is not posted there yet, but will be soon.

It seems as we age, the word "Death" seems to come up more often. This article seems to explain why to some extent.

-----------------------------------------------

I have found a mourning process for oneself as one gets older or deteriorating health conditions exists and one must come to terms with change resulting from this unavoidable progressing. One might describe this process as mourning for former states of the self, as if these states represented lost objects. - G. Pollock

Twelve Signs of a Spiritual Awakening

Twelve Signs of a Spiritual Awakening

1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
2. Frequent attacks of smiling.
3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.
6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
7. A loss of ability to worry.
8. A loss of interest in conflict.
9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
10. A loss of interest in judging others.
11. A loss of interest in judging self.
12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.

Getting Ideas

Getting Ideas


"All of us know more than any one of us" is the saying that applies to 12 Step groups. No matter how much experience any single individual has, it's surpassed by the collective knowledge of the group.
That's a good reason in itself for drawing upon these groups. And there are others as well. We need the pool of intelligence that the groups build up over time. We need the group's strength when our own is waning.
We also learn help that comes in surprising ways. The person in the group who seems just knowledgeable may express an idea that is just what we need at the time.
The group can meet many of our needs if we give it a chance. Regular attendance at meetings will keep us in touch with the group's ideas.
I'll stay in touch today with ideas that come from members of my group. Joined together, we have lots of knowledge.
Anyways people, hope to hear from more of you in the future. These are just my own thoughts as I see and feel them.