Lizard Brain

A letter to my Primary Care Physician today...

Thank you for the great visit yesterday! Please thank your nurse for me as well.  She was professional and kind.

I had an “ah ha” moment this morning that may benefit your other patients, as it did me. From Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation for today, regarding our “lizard brain”.  Full article here.

”In turning our gaze to this divine truth—in dropping our many modes of scapegoating and self-justification—we gain compassion toward ourselves and all others who suffer. It largely happens on the psychic and unconscious level, but that is exactly where our hurts and our will to violence lie, lodged in the primitive “lizard brain,” where we have almost no rational control.”

Then this from Psychology Today. Full article here.

[The Limbic Cortex] is the part of the brain that is phylogenetic ally very primitive. Many people call it “The Lizard Brain” because the limbic system is about all a lizard has for brain function. It is in charge of fight, flight, feeding, fear, and freezing-up... The point to all of this is that 12-step recovery recognized (before the limbic system was described) that we all have this tendency to do what we don’t want to do and we are powerless about certain behaviors. Understanding this automatic behavior allows us to surrender to what we cannot control. It frees us to do the next right thing by staying in the present rather than worrying about the future or being shamed and experience guilt about the past. It takes practice.

Post Script: Also see this article How To Tame Your Lizard Brain by By Susan Murphy, PhD of Desert Health.

Sincerely,

gus

Angel Friends

Count your blessings though you don't see how.  See the goodness that you have right now.

Angels watching over us when we lose our way. Who're there in the form of friends and family and listen to every word we say.

Angels watching over us when we think all's lost.  Showing the loving arms of our Savior who paid the final cost.

Angels watching over us when that loved one says goodbye.  Who encourages us to keep going when we don't want to try.

Angels showing us daily in the form of children and friends, wrapping their arms around us, as we begin to mend.

Count your blessings though you don't see how. See the goodness that you have all right now.

Christianity and Alcoholics Anonymous

A few days ago I had a discussion with a fellow believer about their desire to be sober, and that how Alcoholics Anonymous wasn't a good option for them because it wasn't Christian enough.  The person said they only mentioned God in a vague sense, mostly referring to Him as a Higher Power.  Which is correct in my experience.  That saddened me to hear because when I first went to AA back in 2000 my faith in God was weak, and AA strengthened it.

If AA were any more "Christian" than it is now, there would be more feelings like this, that I found in a recovery forum written in 2009 - Are non-Christians really accepted at AA meetings? Are they welcome? I've heard there is such an importance placed on God at these meetings and I don't really believe in God. I'm 3 days sober and desperate to keep my sobriety...I'm ready to stop and do whatever it takes...I want to go to AA meetings to meet others like me but I'm just not sure if it will work because I'm not Christian and don't really believe in a God.

In the AA Preamble, which is read at every meeting it states, "A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety."

To the Christian wishing a more godly program, I have experienced individuals talking about how their Higher Power was Jesus Christ, with humility and confidence.

In my experience, Alcoholics Anonymous has the perfect level of spirituality in that it welcomes believers, and drives home the point to the non-believers that we cannot achieve sobriety by ourselves, but only with the help of a power greater than us.  There is such a power!  The program molds the alcoholic from the self-centered to the selfless, the "taker" to the giver, the antisocial to the prosocial while giving hope. I even recall some of my own ah-ha moments when I realized there were others more important than me and I needed to change.  About then was when I was able to recall what I had learned about God from my past, blend the teachings of the Bible with those of AA program, and have a Savior there waiting for me to offer forgiveness and grace.  It is a program that works, for those of any faith or lack thereof when they come in.

Other Links: AA Grapevine

If you have an opinion on this, I'd love to hear your comments.  Are you a blogger or wanna-be writer?  I'd love to share your uplifting story on any type of recovery here.  Just send me a comment to this post.

What sign am I?

About two or three years ago our church did the What sign are you? message in worship service.  See this link for another congregation.  I couldn't do it.  I think I really was sick that day, but even if I wasn't I still wouldn't have done it.  I didn't want to air my dirty laundry in front of my friends.  I'm big on anonymity.

This sign to the left could have been mine.

My Mom told me when I was a kid that my Dad stopped drinking beer when my sister took an open one in the fridge and drank some of it when she was a toddler.  It just dawned on me this morning that I used that as permission to drink later in life.  My Dad drank, but had to quit because of my big sister and not for any other reason could have been my reasoning.  My first time to get drunk was when I was 15 or 16.  I had my one and only DUI related accident when I was 17, but no one knew it besides me and my Mom.  I drank in college and pretty much was obsessed with alcohol from then on.

Skip forward 25 years and I found myself drinking way too much.  I knew how bad that was (in my head) so I went to one of those confidential Employee Assistance Program counselors for substance abuse and he sent me to an AA meeting.  AA was just what I needed, and I picked up my white chip and did about 85 meetings in 90 days.

I am still in recovery.  It has been about a year since I had my last drink.  For the longest time I would stay sober for a year and then drink constant for two months.  The wasted time, damaged relationships and squandered money is a huge part of that period of my life.

Today by the grace of God I have no desire to drink, and my family is still healing.  I'll talk to you another day about guilt and regret, because today I am filled with gratitude over my sobriety, my family and all the blessings in my life.
By Andrew