Sought Through Prayer and Medication . . . Err, Meditation . . .

Complacent:  Apathetic with regard to an apparent need or problem; uncritically satisfied with oneself; smug. 

From a discussion of the first segment of Step Eleven in The Little Red Book "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him" . . . 

They have overlooked the fact that the human mind was not constituted to remember the pain and sorrow suffered from disease.  When complacency develops . . .  In reality we are on a daily reprieve, that our reprieves are contingent upon our spiritual condition.

(I've always liked the term Euphoric Recall in describing how we often remember our drinking careers.  It's a good reminder when I slip into a brief reverie that glamorizes my past drinking or - even more likely - to ruefully acknowledge that alcohol and drugs really were an effective solution to my untreated alcoholism for a good little period of time and that - especially in the early days - it really was a lot of fun.  I had a lot of fun drinking . . . until I didn't and drinking became a slow death march into insensate oblivion.  It's important, in my way of thinking, that we don't demonize alcohol.  There's nothing inherently wrong with alcohol, a substance that millions of people use responsibly to relax a little or to socialize.

The point is that we're all going to get complacent from time to time.  Staying sober and spiritually fit isn't always a walk in the park.  When complacency develops I go back to working on my spiritual condition.)

It is more sensible to ask for a required circumstance after you have acknowledged and expressed thanks for receiving a previous one.

(So . . . say thank you more that you say gimme.  Lovely to ponder - uncomfortable to do.)

The alcoholic is apt to possess a restless disposition that tends toward over activity.  Therefore we recommend relaxation as an aid to prayer and suggest that a quiet time, aside from prayer, will be beneficial to all alcoholics.  It can be a matter of minutes if necessary.  We know, however, from experience, that even thirty seconds of a complete relaxation of mind and body will do the trick.  It is simple.  Try it.

A famous phrase in our literature brands alcoholics as "restless, irritable, and discontented" until we drink and get that sense of ease and relaxation that alcohol provides.  Today I'm not often irritable and discontented but restless?  Sorry, dude, but I'm a restless guy.  I move a lot and when I'm not moving I want to be moving and when I am moving I'm sure I should be moving more or moving somewhere else, that I'm moving in the wrong spot.  I'm better at tempering my restlessness today but I'm also aware that it is a part of my personality that I'm never going to get a handle on.  It's not all bad, either - I do a lot of stuff and see a lot of places because I'm so driven to movement, but it can be uncomfortable always being uncomfortable with my present state.

I'll tell you this - getting older solves some of this problem.  He says with a rueful smile.