Posted by Larry Hoover on May 15, 2006, at 9:36:13
In reply to Well, here you have it. ***CSA tigger****, posted by madeline on May 15, 2006, at 7:55:20
> This life I have, I wonder if it worth living.
Yes. I don't have the slightest doubt in my mind or heart when I say so. Why? Because you know the difference between what you've got and what is possible.
You're not simply aching, for no apparent reason. You're aching because.
This too shall pass.
By analogy, I consider my experience with addiction. Once I discovered the effects of substances, life became nothing more than an opportunity for me to try new drugs. Then came the inevitable fall. The bottoming out. And recovery.
After my spiritual awakening, I realized that my addiction was a blessing. I came to realize that the philosophy of living that I had learned in order to recover from addiction provided me with skills and capabilities that many "normal" and "happy" people around me simply could not comprehend. I wished they could learn what I had learned. But you see, they had no need, and they remained ignorant. I haven't yet seen a Normals Anonymous group. Maybe, some day.
And I think there is something similar to be had in the recovery from trauma. Oh, yes, we are sensitized folk. But being sensitized has its advantages. Oh yes, it truly does.
Buddhists hold that spiritual growth can only come from loss. That the comfortable existence teaches nothing. I think they were on to something.
I just saw a quotation, yesterday, that I will try to reproduce for you today. I think it went something like, "Religion is for those who fear going to hell. Spirituality is for those who have been there."
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:644196
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060505/msgs/644218.html