FREEDOM MONTH: DAY 2: “If every time we choose a turd, society, at a great expense, simply allows us to redeem it for a pepperoni, then not only will we never learn to make smart choices, we will also surrender the freedom to choose, because a choice without consequences is no choice at all.” ― Tom Robbins
I love Tom Robbins, so this quote makes me happy. It speaks to the kind of entitlement we see in the children around us today…raised without having to work for rewards…being given trophies for things they do not participate in; rewarded for achieving nothing or exerting no effort.
I truly believe we cannot choose badly. I had a dear, dear friend who used to say in meetings that we can do anything we want in recovery and not need to relapse; BUT there were prices to pay for our choices.
I love that! And have lived long enough with making choices to prove it to myself and those who watch what I do. When I try to make a shortcut in something, I get less than stellar results or outcomes for my efforts. When I put myself fully into the situation and work toward a goal of any kind, I find that I am rewarded for my full participation and effort accordingly.
I am the arbiter of whether or not I give something my full attention. When I do mindful yoga, my body responds well to the effort. When I do half-assed yoga, I can injure myself or I do not feel good in the poses because I am giving it less than the effort I know is necessary. If I do no yoga at all, I get nothing. I love the line in the BB where it says that “Half measures avail us nothing.”
It would seem, given the logic of my mind…screaming purple monkeys…SPM, that half measures should avail me half. But there is no half measure in recovery. I am either in it or I am not.
Same with yoga, same with life. I get what I put out. If I do this work half-assed, I will get nothing in return. I watch it all the time…the ones who relapse over and over again, and wonder “Why???” Of course we know, those of us who do this work.
The rest are unhappy and thinking they need medication because they are not getting what we get. Total application of these principles, all the time, every day, in all situations, is the only way we get the maximum benefits. There are no holidays, no days off, no exclusions, no excuses, no passes, no options other than to choose to recover and do what that demands. Yes, demands.
We may talk about these being suggestions, but I see them as necessities. I see them as the demands that life is making in exchange for peace, serenity, happiness, and the ability to walk through the world without the insanity of SPM. Yay!
