The other part is that this guy, if an alcoholic like me, has real difficulties accessing in his heart and mind how he actually “feels” at any particular time. Or rather what emotions he is experiencing at any particular time. For the addict or alcoholic, this often times means working the Steps and in the process of working these steps, getting the required “psychic change” that will expel the obsession to use and aa spiritual malady allow you to live a meaningful and happy life. How this works, I can’t say for certain but it does work and very often at some point during working the Steps, the addict or alcoholic will notice that they have had a complete shift in the way they view life. They will be more open to what life and the universe is telling them, and they will not longer have that knot in their chest telling them they are alone.
Perhaps they seem in conflict with providing competent medical care. At the 71st General Service Conference annual meeting, held online over April 17 to April 25, 2021, a revision to the AA Preamble was approved through advisory action. The change replaced the words men and women with the word people in the first sentence of the Preamble. Review suggested gender-neutral language options for changes to the AA Preamble. This item was not acted on by the Grapevine committee, since they felt they needed more direction regarding wording. However, a couple of Floor Actions at the end of the Conference did address a change to the Preamble.
What does the Big Book say about spirituality?
When men and women look inwardly, the spiritual component of the disease becomes apparent. The fundamental issue with a substance use disorder is that there are no predictable factors that make someone more prone to the disorder than another. In fact, studies have been done on twins to try to determine if there is a genetic predisposition for a substance use disorder, typically with mixed results. As there is no specific reason that someone grows to have a substance use disorder, there’s no defining factor or characteristic that might make someone’s obsession turn light or dark. The good news is that properly treated, those in recovery from the disorder are often able to, with continued growth, use this quality in order to be very successful. The same pursuits that many had, prior to their struggles becoming unmanageable, become easy to focus upon again, often leading to more success than they experienced before.
‘When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically.’ – Alcoholics Anonymous – AA Big Book – page 64
— AABB164 (@AABB164) June 17, 2010
Just as revealing where the negative emotions listed which clearly showed how I react, and can still react to people who I believe have caused my hurt or rejection. Hence when I came into recovery I had hundreds and hundreds of resentments swirling around my mind, poisoning my thoughts and sending constant emotional daggers into my heart. He said to list all the negative emotions that I had been in the grip of and exhibiting in relation to my various misdemeanors and the resentments I had held against various people and institutions over the preceding decades. The mature way to to access, identfiy and label how one is feeling and use this information to reasonably express how one is feeling.
Recovery Starts Here.
Often people like us have some of the strongest will power that exists. William James wrote the book The Variety of Religious Experiences in 1902 and it is a book that is actually talked about in the book Alcoholics Anonymous. In his book, James describes four qualities of a religious or spiritual experiences that are shared by most people who experience one. The spiritual malady of addiction is essentially the fact that at some point in the addict’s life, they managed to cut themselves off from existence and any notion of spirituality. This does not mean that they removed themselves from religion, although the two can be synonymous, but it simply means that within their soul or the core of their being, they suffer from a profound loneliness. The reason for this is because addiction is at its core a spiritual malady. It is loaded with old ideas and religiosity, tainted by overuse, abuse, and centuries of bad press. It is sad that countless addicts and alcoholics have rejected 12 Step recovery because the G_d word is up on the wall and included in prayers and literature. Since AA began, I’ve taken immense wallops in all these areas because of my failure to grow up, emotionally and spiritually”.
He can only be defeated by an attitude of intolerance or belligerent denial” (“Alcoholics Anonymous” page 568). The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous discusses many steps that are involved in the recovery Sober Home process. Rule 62 in recovery refers to the rule of dont take yourself too damn seriously. Someone in recovery doesnt always realize that they can relish their life again without the use of alcohol.
Blogging The Language of the Heart
I knew I wanted to grow into becoming a better and more whole person, but did not know how to talk about it. I knew I wanted to feel spiritually rooted and connected, but I did not know where to turn nor did I believe anyone could help me get there. Thats why when I work with people, i try to have them read the chapter More about alcoholism where it stresses more on the mental part of the disease. And thats what the authors of the big book also suggests. 2) I had to realize that, had THAT SET of resentments not resulted in me feeling trapped, then sulking, then drinking, the next set probably would have. Is overcome, aa spiritual malady we straighten out mentally and physically. Especially being alcoholic more often than not, it is our nature to have that “my way or the highway” mentality. Intellectually, believing in something we cannot physically see or a scientifically proven exists is a hard pill to swallow, those intellectual individuals shut the idea out completely. These core beliefs make it harder for us to connect with a god of our understanding. Referred to in several of the twelve steps is therefore unrelated to religion; it refers to the potentially healing power inherent in interpersonal relationships based on reciprocity and equality.
This can seem a little confusing to newcomers, who believe that they only have a problem with food. They do not understand why it is being suggested they read a book they believe to be for alcoholics. It is our experience that the problem is not the substance; the problem is the disease of addiction. We have also found that the disease of addiction is not limited to any one substance and that to be sober we need to be free from all mind-altering substances. The Big Book describes a spiritual experience as a personality change sufficient to bring about recovery from alcoholism. It also says that it manifests itself in many different forms. This means that the experience looks different for different people.