Opinion V Fact

Opinion:  A belief that a person has formed about a topic or an issue; the judgement or sentiment which the mind forms of persons or things.

Four days hiking in the desert . . .   

I still give the jungle props for being the most competitive environment for plant life on this planet.  It is plant versus plant there and you better be tough or you're going to be subsumed. But the desert is no slouch, either, except that it's more of a plant versus the elements thing there. You better be good at capturing water and nutrients or you're going down.  Every single plant was equipped with what could only be described as large, stainless steel surgical needles except for the ones that had billions of tiny, titanium surgical needles.  I didn't touch nothing out there.  And it was hot and dry - I really respected the elements.  I didn't take anything lightly.

As I hiked I mused.  I spent some time thinking about the difference between personal responsibility and group support.  My experience in recovery has shown me that there is a tension most of the time between the two extremes of any spectrum.  Does everything boil down to personal responsibility?  You better believe it.  Most of us figure out right quick that we have to quit pointing fingers at other people, places, and things as the cause of our problems.  OK, so it's all up to me then?  I don't think so.  The first word of the first step is "We" which indicates to me that if I try to do this by myself then it's going to be a long slog.  I need the help and advice and suggestions that come to me from all kinds of different people, some of whom I dislike or disagree with vehemently.

I've learned in my life that if I set up shop at one end or the other of anything then I'm missing a big part of the puzzle.  The Program has taught me to open up my eyes and try to see the value in everything, not just in the principles that I'm convinced are some kind of inalienable right.  I'm grateful that this tendency has slopped over into a many other facets of my life - politics, religion, social values, morality, and on and on.  I don't mean to say that I lose my core beliefs, rather that I don't go bat-shit crazy when I hear something that I don't agree with.  So many things are opinions, not facts.