Take Heart!

[Thomas3.20.2010]

It takes a lot of courage to face Addiction and Re-claim our Lives!

People who are trapped in addiction can suffer greatly. Our obsession with Nicotine can lead to the destruction of everything we hold dear. It is eventually obvious that our addictive behavior is the source of the misery, but we may still be unwilling to change. This is because there is comfort in familiarity and change takes a great deal of courage because it is a step into the unknown. Failure to summon up the motivation to walk away from addiction can mean a death sentence so it is vital that we summon up the necessary courage to move forward.

So what is courage and how do we find it within ourselves if what we feel is fear, doubt, and anxiety?

Courage is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation.Courageousness does not imply fearlessness.

Plato described courage as a sort of perseverance - being able to persevere through all emotions, like suffering, pleasure, and fear.

Aquinas thought courage denotes a certain firmness of mind being primarily about endurance, not attack. According to him, courage is more concerned to allay fear, than to moderate daring.

Tau Te Ching states that courage is derived from Love

Ernest Hemmingway famously defined courage as "grace under pressure.”

Winston Churchill stated, "Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all others."

According to Maya Angelou, "Courage is the most important of the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage."

Brene Brown reminds us “Courage is a heart word. The root of the word courage is cor - the Latin word for heart. In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant ‘To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart.’” 

We can learn to be more courageous in life. It is a skill that people can develop by understanding that courage does not mean absence of fear. It means taking action despite the fear. We develop a beginner’s mind  - that is we are more open to new experience. Beginner’s mind means approaching new EXperiences without too many preconceived judgments and biases.

I often hear beginners talking of fear of judgment but can we also look at our own judgment about recovery and quitters?

We often believe that

-       recovery will be nearly impossible

-       relapse will be unbearably embarrassing

-       nobody will understand or support our quit journey

-       successful quitters are somehow better than we are

-       life will become a constant desire for the prohibited

-       fun will be gone forever

I’m sure you can add other beliefs or judgments to this list.

Can you set aside those preconceived concepts and open your minds and more importantly your hearts to a new different EXperience that you know not what it will bring but you know it will be EXcellent in every aspect of your Life?

It will require consistency, perseverance, willingness. And you will not be alone! You have a whole Community of folks walking the path of Recovery with you! We will remind you of the truth of your own Heart – not your hijacked Mind!

We can show you how to take personal responsibility, to learn, to grow, to become even more courageous when called upon to do so. We have faced any number of situations that tested our courage – and we stepped up and persevered!

We can tell you how we learned to become less a slave of our thoughts and fears and to live in our Hearts with Love – for ourselves and for our fellow human.

 We can help you set for yourself very small doable challenges and achieving these until you are ready to face bigger challenges. This will increase your Self –Esteem and Determination.

We were where you are now! Every bit as vulnerable, anxious, and doubtful! We didn’t get here in one fell swoop. We took baby steps! You’ve already taken the first ones – you are here – reading this! Keep taking those steps – consistently and willingly. The rest will happen day by day by day.

Listen to your Heart!