November 2, 2015

Quote of the Week

"Feelings are not facts."

When I was new in the program, my sponsor would constantly tell me that my feelings were not facts. They were just feelings. "But it's a fact that I'm having these feelings," I'd argue. I paid a steep price for my stubbornness as my feelings would often hit me like a freight train and drag me far down their tracks.
 
After I got a little recovery, I began to understand that my feelings only became facts when I acted on them. I found that if I felt depressed, that was OK, but if I then stayed in bed all day, then that feeling would definitely be a fact in my life. This taught me that I could have feelings and not act on them, or, even better, I could take contrary action, and this revealed my feelings as just the thoughts that they were.
 
Now with a little bit of time and experience, when I see the freight train of feelings approaching, I just step aside. Today I sit and watch as the train passes by, and sometimes I can actually feel the wind of it as it whizzes by. Today I know my feelings are not facts, they are just feelings, and, if I pause long enough, they will always pass by.