What is spirituity - Cyber Recovery Social Network Forums

YoungInRecovery · 11-28-2009, 05:50 PM

I'm a newcomer. To both these forums and recovery.

I would just like people's explainatioms on what spirituality is. I beleive in God of my understanding and pray daily but is this being spiritually healthy? I don't really even understand the meaning of the word so if anyone has any experience strength or hope they can share please do

timbo · 11-29-2009, 01:11 AM

Hi, Newcomer! My name is Tim, and my sobriety date is 12-01-02. I have been wrestling with that question since I stopped drinking. What I understand today will no doubt keep evolving as I grow in effectiveness and understanding. But just about everything I know comes out of that big book.

So why don't you take out your big book and turn to page 24 and read the italicized paragraph at the top of the page. It starts out: " Most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink"...

If you are on this web page talking to another alcoholic, you probably understand that passage in much the same way I do. You were as powerless to stop as I was. It is our shared experience, our willingness to risk being known to each other, that is part of that power greater than ourselves. Tapping into that like we both have tonight is a spiritual experience.

A drunk stops doing what he thought he never could stop doing long enough to ask for help. He finds that he is not alone, that there are thousands of people at meetings in his own home town who understand him and his problem in a profoundly personal way. How does it go? "We beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start." He has arrived. He has asked for help. He finds that they've been waiting for him all this time. That is a spiritual experience.

Look at the paragraph on the opposite page, page twenty five, where it starts "The Great fact is just this and nothing less; that we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences"....

I start out on page twenty four broken and alone, without one person I could call in Atlanta, and without any effective defense against the first drink, and I ask for help. I work the steps with my sponsor. And slowly, incrementally, but most certainly, I arrive all the way over at page twenty five with hundreds of friends, and a relationship with God that is as personal and close as my relationship with my wife. This a deep and effective spiritual experience.

And today I try not to confuse spirituality with happiness, because all my struggles have taught me something about myself and about my relationship with God. It's often in retrospect that I realize this, but there it is.

Now turn to page fifty-five and read where it says: "Actually we were fooling our selves, for deep down within every man woman and child is a fundamental idea of God"...

What was the tallest mountain in the world before they discovered Mount Everest? Did you have to stop and think about that? Most every one does. Mount Everest was always the tallest mountain. It didn't become so just because we discovered it! The earth didn't suddenly start revolving around the sun just because Copernicus worked out the math; The sun was always the center of the solar system!

In much the same way, God has always been with me. The steps are a profoundly simple way for me to re-discover him. There are other ways, to be sure, but for drunks like us, this is a practical program of action that works in rough going. And as you grow in effectiveness and understanding you will find your own deep and effective spiritual experiences as well. Guaranteed!

I hope this helps. I know it helped me.

Thank you,

Timbo

skyhook · 11-29-2009, 11:25 AM

I'm no expert on the valued AA book or its definitions, but I have lived long enough (in and out of recovery) to have formed my own takes on spirituality. I start with the premise that good and evil exists in our world and is readily visible to all of us, all of the time. Sometimes we read about it or see it on the news and sometimes it is dropped into the middle of our very lives. I am perfectly capable of expressing good or evil at anytime.

The cunundrum for mankind has been coming to agreement as to what defines good and what defines evil. One mans evil is another's good and visa versa...one example being the killing of each other that has been going on since the dawn of time over religion. The prochoice, prolife debate is another example.

I believe we all are born with a vacuum in our soul, that must be filled with something. Some say its a God shaped vacuum. People spend their time trying to fill this vacuum with persons, places or things because its a real and pressing need. I believe that these "things" are meant to be the gifts of God to us and not instruments of meeting us at the point of our need...that is reserved for God. We have a habit of tryng to meet legitimate needs , in illigitimate ways and the results are obvious dysfuntion.

I believe that God is not alienated from us, or so removed that He does not hear the cries of our heart. I have found that He longed for relationship with me and hounded me from the beginning. He waited patiently, while I squeezed everything and the kitchensink into the vacuum of my soul, trying to fill it up. He knew that I would have to be convinced that nothing elese would work...so He allowed me to be all I could be, and it was not pretty.

The result was that my heart was maxed out with "things" and I left no room for God. You see, I had to believe that He truly existed, in order for Him to begin clearing out the clutter. It only took a real and honest awareness that my life was crappp and that I had no answers and needed His help.

But I had to believe He existed. I would never go to the gas station, swipe my card and attempt to fill up my tank, IF I DID NOT BELEIVE I WAS GOING TO GET GAS !. In the same way, I had to deal with unbelief in order to find God. I would swipe my heart at God from time to time, on my way to the next thing I was gonna shove in my God void, not really thinking He was there...just going through the motion. Why should it be a suprise that God would not answer me during those times ? Or was His non-answer, really a answer of love and that He would wait ?

The funny thing is, I found faith only after exhausting every other option first (in some cases, revisting "options" two and three times over). I was actually cornered to face Him in faith and He did not care, because He had waited for me patiently and even knew before hand the day and time I would come to Him in childlike faith. Truly, if He had not been there when I reached out, I would not be here today. I jumped from the weak, life platform I had built for myself...a platform breaking down, on fire and no longer capable of offering even the false support it had given me for years. It was truly a leap of faith. Like a daddy encouraging his young son to leap into the pool, He caught me with those big old bear arms, just as I hit the cooling and healing water.

I have found the God who created me and he teaches me how to live. Many days I get it right, many days I don't, but His love for me is relentless just the same...and thats enough.

I don't know what spirituality is.

Peace

Rocket2d4 · 12-01-2009, 05:53 AM

It's different for everyone.
For me personally. It's a process of evolution and awarness.

It can be as simple as being in the moment with my daughter
as we both watch a sunset together. Knowing and accepting
that we both love each other very much.
She dosn't have to earn my love. Nor i have to earn her's.
Sometimes she'll crack a light hearted joke so we both laugh.
Other times she just give me a hug and rest her head on my shoulder
as I rock her on her swing set...
I'll always remember my duaghter as a sweet loving child. She was a very happy go luckie
child. She used laugh and sing all the time. She was always in good spirit....

I try to remind her that, Now that she is an adult with many challenges and struggles as
she cries her heart out for me to take all of her pains aways.
Sometimes I just remind her of who she really is...
She's LOVE, COMPLETE, AND WHOLE ALREADY.

If praying works for you then do what works for you.
If praying dosn't work ya...then don't pray

mellotripp · 12-02-2009, 01:47 AM

Here we define God as spirituality instead of religion because there is no one religion that is all-inclusive yet they all have there possibilities. Of the five major religions, self awareness is what they all have in common and not worship, recovery is all about self awareness for we cannot know where we are wrong without it, nor we will ever know what to fix about ourselves either. There is a God consciousness of right and wrong in all of us as an oldtimer used to tell me, "there is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best." You could even find evil in what all seek for the most part, a sense of a security for themselves and their loved ones, for that be egotistical. In recovery since there is no true defintion of God that all must agree on, I guess we must make resentment our common denominator for even in the non-belief is that the same for everyone as detrimental to the rest.

Kambry · 12-06-2009, 01:36 AM

Young, I'm new here, but your question deserves a response.

You want to know if you're being spiritually healthy.

I'm not a Christian, but there are ways to know if you're being healthy, spiritually, in the faith you follow.

1 - Do you feel strengthened by your prayers? Do you feel any sense of connection to something that is more?
2 - Does your path lead you to healthy or unhealthy behaviors? Does it encourage you to continue striving for the healthy choices and actions in your life?
3 - Do you find peace from your beliefs? Do they help you resist fear, anxiousness, stress, or depression?

If you can say yes to these things, then yes, you're being spiritually healthy. If you start feeling like your faith is placed in someting that is damaging you, that isolates you from family and friends or people who care for you, or if you feel that you're doing something because it's just what is expected, then you have bigger questions to ask.

Hope that helped you some!

11-28-2009, 05:50 PM	#1
YoungInRecovery Newcomer Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: PA Posts: 7	What is spirituity I'm a newcomer. To both these forums and recovery. I would just like people's explainatioms on what spirituality is. I beleive in God of my understanding and pray daily but is this being spiritually healthy? I don't really even understand the meaning of the word so if anyone has any experience strength or hope they can share please do

11-29-2009, 01:11 AM	#2
timbo Newcomer Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Atlanta Posts: 1	What is spirituality? Yikes! Hi, Newcomer! My name is Tim, and my sobriety date is 12-01-02. I have been wrestling with that question since I stopped drinking. What I understand today will no doubt keep evolving as I grow in effectiveness and understanding. But just about everything I know comes out of that big book. So why don't you take out your big book and turn to page 24 and read the italicized paragraph at the top of the page. It starts out: " Most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink"... If you are on this web page talking to another alcoholic, you probably understand that passage in much the same way I do. You were as powerless to stop as I was. It is our shared experience, our willingness to risk being known to each other, that is part of that power greater than ourselves. Tapping into that like we both have tonight is a spiritual experience. A drunk stops doing what he thought he never could stop doing long enough to ask for help. He finds that he is not alone, that there are thousands of people at meetings in his own home town who understand him and his problem in a profoundly personal way. How does it go? "We beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start." He has arrived. He has asked for help. He finds that they've been waiting for him all this time. That is a spiritual experience. Look at the paragraph on the opposite page, page twenty five, where it starts "The Great fact is just this and nothing less; that we have had deep and effective spiritual experiences".... I start out on page twenty four broken and alone, without one person I could call in Atlanta, and without any effective defense against the first drink, and I ask for help. I work the steps with my sponsor. And slowly, incrementally, but most certainly, I arrive all the way over at page twenty five with hundreds of friends, and a relationship with God that is as personal and close as my relationship with my wife. This a deep and effective spiritual experience. And today I try not to confuse spirituality with happiness, because all my struggles have taught me something about myself and about my relationship with God. It's often in retrospect that I realize this, but there it is. Now turn to page fifty-five and read where it says: "Actually we were fooling our selves, for deep down within every man woman and child is a fundamental idea of God"... What was the tallest mountain in the world before they discovered Mount Everest? Did you have to stop and think about that? Most every one does. Mount Everest was always the tallest mountain. It didn't become so just because we discovered it! The earth didn't suddenly start revolving around the sun just because Copernicus worked out the math; The sun was always the center of the solar system! In much the same way, God has always been with me. The steps are a profoundly simple way for me to re-discover him. There are other ways, to be sure, but for drunks like us, this is a practical program of action that works in rough going. And as you grow in effectiveness and understanding you will find your own deep and effective spiritual experiences as well. Guaranteed! I hope this helps. I know it helped me. Thank you, Timbo

12-02-2009, 01:47 AM	#5
mellotripp Devoted Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 303	Here we define God as spirituality instead of religion because there is no one religion that is all-inclusive yet they all have there possibilities. Of the five major religions, self awareness is what they all have in common and not worship, recovery is all about self awareness for we cannot know where we are wrong without it, nor we will ever know what to fix about ourselves either. There is a God consciousness of right and wrong in all of us as an oldtimer used to tell me, "there is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best." You could even find evil in what all seek for the most part, a sense of a security for themselves and their loved ones, for that be egotistical. In recovery since there is no true defintion of God that all must agree on, I guess we must make resentment our common denominator for even in the non-belief is that the same for everyone as detrimental to the rest. __________________ February 28th plus the Arch of March brings us to April Fool's. February 29th is added once every four years to help time keep up with the sun's cycle.

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11-29-2009, 11:25 AM	#3
skyhook ragamuffin Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,508	I'm no expert on the valued AA book or its definitions, but I have lived long enough (in and out of recovery) to have formed my own takes on spirituality. I start with the premise that good and evil exists in our world and is readily visible to all of us, all of the time. Sometimes we read about it or see it on the news and sometimes it is dropped into the middle of our very lives. I am perfectly capable of expressing good or evil at anytime. The cunundrum for mankind has been coming to agreement as to what defines good and what defines evil. One mans evil is another's good and visa versa...one example being the killing of each other that has been going on since the dawn of time over religion. The prochoice, prolife debate is another example. I believe we all are born with a vacuum in our soul, that must be filled with something. Some say its a God shaped vacuum. People spend their time trying to fill this vacuum with persons, places or things because its a real and pressing need. I believe that these "things" are meant to be the gifts of God to us and not instruments of meeting us at the point of our need...that is reserved for God. We have a habit of tryng to meet legitimate needs , in illigitimate ways and the results are obvious dysfuntion. I believe that God is not alienated from us, or so removed that He does not hear the cries of our heart. I have found that He longed for relationship with me and hounded me from the beginning. He waited patiently, while I squeezed everything and the kitchensink into the vacuum of my soul, trying to fill it up. He knew that I would have to be convinced that nothing elese would work...so He allowed me to be all I could be, and it was not pretty. The result was that my heart was maxed out with "things" and I left no room for God. You see, I had to believe that He truly existed, in order for Him to begin clearing out the clutter. It only took a real and honest awareness that my life was crappp and that I had no answers and needed His help. But I had to believe He existed. I would never go to the gas station, swipe my card and attempt to fill up my tank, IF I DID NOT BELEIVE I WAS GOING TO GET GAS !. In the same way, I had to deal with unbelief in order to find God. I would swipe my heart at God from time to time, on my way to the next thing I was gonna shove in my God void, not really thinking He was there...just going through the motion. Why should it be a suprise that God would not answer me during those times ? Or was His non-answer, really a answer of love and that He would wait ? The funny thing is, I found faith only after exhausting every other option first (in some cases, revisting "options" two and three times over). I was actually cornered to face Him in faith and He did not care, because He had waited for me patiently and even knew before hand the day and time I would come to Him in childlike faith. Truly, if He had not been there when I reached out, I would not be here today. I jumped from the weak, life platform I had built for myself...a platform breaking down, on fire and no longer capable of offering even the false support it had given me for years. It was truly a leap of faith. Like a daddy encouraging his young son to leap into the pool, He caught me with those big old bear arms, just as I hit the cooling and healing water. I have found the God who created me and he teaches me how to live. Many days I get it right, many days I don't, but His love for me is relentless just the same...and thats enough. I don't know what spirituality is. Peace

12-01-2009, 05:53 AM	#4
Rocket2d4 Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 94	It's different for everyone. For me personally. It's a process of evolution and awarness. It can be as simple as being in the moment with my daughter as we both watch a sunset together. Knowing and accepting that we both love each other very much. She dosn't have to earn my love. Nor i have to earn her's. Sometimes she'll crack a light hearted joke so we both laugh. Other times she just give me a hug and rest her head on my shoulder as I rock her on her swing set... I'll always remember my duaghter as a sweet loving child. She was a very happy go luckie child. She used laugh and sing all the time. She was always in good spirit.... I try to remind her that, Now that she is an adult with many challenges and struggles as she cries her heart out for me to take all of her pains aways. Sometimes I just remind her of who she really is... She's LOVE, COMPLETE, AND WHOLE ALREADY. If praying works for you then do what works for you. If praying dosn't work ya...then don't pray

12-06-2009, 01:36 AM	#6
Kambry Newcomer Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 7	Young, I'm new here, but your question deserves a response. You want to know if you're being spiritually healthy. I'm not a Christian, but there are ways to know if you're being healthy, spiritually, in the faith you follow. 1 - Do you feel strengthened by your prayers? Do you feel any sense of connection to something that is more? 2 - Does your path lead you to healthy or unhealthy behaviors? Does it encourage you to continue striving for the healthy choices and actions in your life? 3 - Do you find peace from your beliefs? Do they help you resist fear, anxiousness, stress, or depression? If you can say yes to these things, then yes, you're being spiritually healthy. If you start feeling like your faith is placed in someting that is damaging you, that isolates you from family and friends or people who care for you, or if you feel that you're doing something because it's just what is expected, then you have bigger questions to ask. Hope that helped you some!