WEEKLY MEDITATION
Be careful how you interpret the world; it is like that.
-Eric Heller
Addictions are an attempt to make the world a more comfortable place. Recovery, then, must accomplish the same thing, but in a way that is functional and sustainable. One of the benefits of 12-step recovery is that the process examines our patterns with regard to our negative feelings and our relationships, and we gain the opportunity to learn to make changes should we decide to. However it is accomplished, though, it is very important that we gain an understanding of what our personal views and hidden interpretations of the world are. It is only after exposing these interpretations and beliefs that we can gain understanding of how they influence the way we see life and react to it. It is important to remember that we don’t see life the way it is, to varying degrees we see what we expect to see. We will interpret situations and interactions very subjectively, invariably injecting our own interpretations into the meaning behind everything. Through this process, we see what we expect to see; experience what we expect to experience. It is only through the process of self-analysis that we can learn to see through these patterns to experience what is really there. Eventually, it is possible and desirable to create new interpretations that reflect a healthier and happier set of expectations of the potential that life has to offer.
