WEEKLY MEDITATION
The quality of the mind becomes the quality of our lives
-Diana Christinson
There are so many ways in which the use (and misuse) of our mind influences our experience of life. At their core, our addictions are used as short-cuts to creating a mental state that feels comfortable, or at the very least, distracts us from how uncomfortable we really are. Even before we got lost in the obsession associated with our specific addictions, we should be able to recognize that there was an underlying pattern of our using behaviors, substances, and relationships to regulate our mental states, attempting to wrest a more enjoyable experience of life. This indicates a poor quality of mind, one that requires distraction, if not total anesthetization, to live with. Recovery should necessarily be many things, and will be somewhat different for every person. But in some way, at its end, recovery should be the attainment of a consistent and sustainable mental state that doesn’t require escape. The mind will always be the mind—thinking, problem-solving, second-guessing, making judgments and comparisons—but our underlying experience of it should improve over time. Regardless of the path that one takes to find and maintain recovery, we can always take stock of its effectiveness by taking a moment to sit still and experience the improved quality of our mind.
