Thoughts of Recovery No 17 The Spiritual Malady Step 1

spiritual malady aa

The negative powers were defined as behaviors that were harmful to others and ourselves. The alcoholic who evolves spiritually  receives inner wisdom –  an intuition and understanding – a noetic mindset that goes beyond the traditional five senses. They also experience an ineffable quality from becoming spiritual – one  where their feelings go beyond mere spiritual malady definition words. One of the teachings we’ve carried forward from AA is that those of us who struggle with compulsive behaviors or addictions suffer from “an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind“. When the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous was written and published in 1939, the times and language of those times was incredibly different than modern times.

Thoughts of Recovery – No.17 – The Spiritual Malady – Step 1

Whatever you designate that power to be is up to you. However, you choose to interact with that higher power is also up to you. Whether you seek to engage in formal prayer, informal mental conversations, or merely by doing good and putting positive energy into the universe, there is no right or wrong way to pray to your higher power.

A Spiritual Inventory

To be fashionable and to seem better than I really am is a spiritual illness. Alcoholics Anonymous bases the 12-step program on 12 affirmations, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ or what they call 12 traditions. These expressions that help people recovering from addiction regain a spiritual footing once again.

  • If we’re serious about our recovery, if we really want to experience freedom from these behaviors that keep us in bondage, we have to be rigorously honest with our answers.
  • But for food addicts—because of their body’s “allergy” to sugar or processed foods—one Christmas cookie leads to a dozen.
  • However, that does not mean addicts are confronting this spiritual ailment by themselves.
  • (Although I’m not sure who would ever want to do that!)  But for me, I’m allergic to cats and if I did that I’d be in a world of hurt.

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Is describing, essentially is referring to a stark void in our lives that we constantly attempt to fill with outside things such as drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, or anything we can think to try to feel better. It is the emptiness we feel on such a deep level that we turn to self-medication in order to alleviate the sadness and despair that go hand in hand with. But in our quest to fill this void with any and everything we can think of, we completely miss that the only thing that can actually fulfill us a spiritual connectedness to something greater than ourselves.

spiritual malady aa

How to Understand How an Addict May Suffer Spiritually

It simply means we are spiritually blocked off from the Power of God, which enables us to remain sober, happy, joyous, and free. Many people are initially turned off to the idea of the program because they believe it preaches religion and God, and many addicts and alcoholics have no desire to pursue a religious answer. But the beauty of the 12-steps is that they are spiritually based as opposed to religious. What that means is that all that is required is the belief in a power greater than yourself. There is no church you must attend or strict practices you must adhere to in organized worship of said higher power, it is a completely individual and personal experience. Thankfully, the “spiritual malady” is no longer a “missing piece” of Step One for me.

  • We dwell on that thought too long, and our desire eventually gives birth to action.
  • The practice of love and service to others has been the panacea that sets me free from the scourge of the eight bedevilments.
  • Our bodies are the place from which we, as humans, do life.
  • Alcoholics Anonymous bases the 12-step program on 12 affirmations, or what they call 12 traditions.
  • The idea is to look for a spiritual solution to an addiction problem, as this type of issue affects more than someone physically.

Linked to aa.org with the permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

If you are seeking drug and alcohol related addiction rehab for yourself or a loved one, the YourFirstStep.org hotline is a confidential and convenient solution. After completing a written step one, we were presented with step two. With sharing that reflects the boundless range of belief (and non-belief) among A.A.

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Victoria Ryan