What a wonderful lesson this was for me to learn early on in recovery. At first I didn't think I could make it through the day or week sober and my sponsor would tell me to "act as if" I were going to make it. He told me to go to meetings, take commitments and to share honestly about what was going on. He also told me not to drink between meetings, and to suit up and show up.
And I did. And soon my actions became reality and I got 60 days, 90 days, then 6 months and a year. It had become so. As my life got better, I began to want other things and other areas of my life to change as well. "Act as if," my sponsor told me again. If I wanted a job in an office, he instructed me to wake up and put on a suit as I looked for work. Soon, I was wearing that suit in the new office I worked in.
As I continue to grow in awareness in recovery, I realize that "acting as though until it becomes so" is one of the great universal spiritual truths of humanity. Books like "The Secret" and others on positive attraction explain why this is, and I know through experience that it is true. Today if I want my reality to change, I simply begin acting as if. It always works.
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Copyright @ 2012 Michael Z
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
Yeah, I see it as 'fake it til you make it' ... Ya know, when I first came back to AA, there was a meeting where an old timer said that to the group and I went ballistic ... Of course I didn't see any logic in "faking it" ... I shared that I was there to learn about real sobriety, that I had no intention to fake any of this ... I said that y'all tell me total honesty is key to a successful program and now you tell to 'fake it' ... I was pissed ... 'fake sobriety' wasn't what I wanted at all ...
Then another old timer said 'What if' you looked at like this ... Why don't you 'act as if' there is a God or higher power who has all power and is here in spirit to grant you strength to stay sober for just this one day ... I said I thought I could do that ... and as the 'Wisdom' quote above says, the days turned to 60, then to 90, then to 6 mos, then a year ... I still can't believe that worked ...
To be honest here, I still don't care for the phrase 'fake it til you make it' ... but I DO see the logic now ... 'cause I also had problems with prayer to start with ... my sponsor asked if I didn't mean it when I prayed ? ... I said yes, and I'm not going to do it, I'm not going to be a hypocrite ... he said THAT has absolutely nothing to do with ... i said what do you mean ... he said it's the ACTION you're taking that you don't know you're taking, that's going to cause all these things to happen that you had no idea was going to happen ... and when all these things happen that you had no idea was going to happen ... then what you think needs to happen will never need to happen ...
I thought man, I got a lunatic for a sponsor, cause no-body could have understood that ... LOL ... Oddly enough, now it makes perfect sense!!!
Pappy
-- Edited by Pythonpappy on Monday 5th of November 2012 11:08:26 PM
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
We were talking about this very thing in regards to faith today at my meeting. Many people expressed at first they didn't really "get" the Higher Power "thing" but they just kept saying the Serenity Prayer and eventually, something shifted. It was a common theme echoed by more than a few people and the results for all were the same. I'm a believer...in God and in acting as if! :)
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I think there's an invisible principle of living...if we believe we're guided through every step of our lives, we are. Its a lovely sight, watching it work.
Yes, so true. My Sponsor instilled in me early on- Act Your Way Into Good Thinking, Don't Think Your Way Into Good Acting. I didn't get it at first, but I did as he said. I would narrow my scope to just take the next action in front of me and leave the results up to my HP(God). Over time my thoughts changed. Such is the power of God and The Program of AA. Spiritual truths- don't also know how they work, but they do and I'm grateful for that.
