God's Eye View- the subject object relation

God's Eye View

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I took E.S.T. in August 1979, There I was exposed to the idea that God is nowhere...
we are 'here' by virtue of us not being anywhere else,
God is no where because he's Everywhere.

This is a lot more than just semantics.

I'm a codependent.
I'm an incest survivor.
I'm an addict.

I came to that conclusion from reading and listening to
John Bradshaw's work. Bradshaw bases much of his work on
Family Systems Theory.

One of the tenants of Bradshaw's work is that as codependents, we're
"Other-centered"
we identify ourselves from others, not from ourselves.

Up till now you thought you were the voice inside your head
That voice is your Ego

You are much more than an Ego

It is: Logical, Analytical, Pragmatic and virtually useless to heal

“Up till now you thought you were the voice in the back of
your head”

“You actually thought that was you”

“What you are, in reality, is a space for events to occur in"

Ahh "The denigration of the ego"… and why at least the temporary subjugation of the ego would be a good idea.

http://codependentboundaries.blogspot.com/2008/08/whats-wrong-with-reason-rationality.html

hmm, it seems in my vigor to explain our ego construct’s (and it is a construct, of our own creation) limitations…

I forgot to express that busting our ego from Sargent back to private was supposed to be temporary. (I wrote a book where I described our Ego as a non com (non commissioned officer- a "Sargent" that runs the show internally)

my bad…

Our ego IS useful, without it, I feel we’d be like the character Dustin Hoffman played in Rain Man. OK, so Raymond was an autistic savant, sue me… you get the picture.

John Bradshaw, who shaped most of my theology/psychology says that “in order to give up the ego, we’ve gotta have a healthy one, first!”

Our ego (construct) is not broken

It got us here didn’t it?
It kept a roof over our head, kept us from losing our jobs, we still have (most of us) have all our fingers and toes???

Our Ego is without a doubt, probably the most useful tool at our disposal.

If you ask it, however, it wants to think it’s the ONLY tool at our disposal… as a matter of fact, our ego also thinks it IS us (and right now it’s wondering who the hell you think you are implying that some other part of you might be present, let alone in charge???)

It’s simply not the best tool to have at the wheel full time, if the only tool in your tool box is a hammer, all of your problems tend to look like nails.

Our ego is HALF of our management.
It just doesn’t know it.

Does your car have a stick shift?

A car’s clutch pedal is not deficient because it fails to be a gas pedal.

A gas pedal is not deficient because it fails to be a clutch pedal.

With the tool of Neuro Linguistic Programming ( NLP) we can take our minds out of gear, long enough to fiddle with the clutch and learn to work our logical, analytical left brain in harmony with our non linear, intuitive right brain… without slipping the clutch!



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This article is for informational purposes only.
Please contact a licensed professional in your area
if you are in crisis or require mental health services

Paradox, to give up the ego, you have to have a healthy one

Paradox, seemingly incompatible ideas:
There is a paradox in recovery theory and it's about the denigration of the ego, the giving up of the ego. "Virtually all the major spiritual traditions speak of the giving up of the ego...it seems that in order to give up the ego, you've got to have a healthy one FIRST" (paraphrased from John Bradshaw)

If you 'give up your ego' and you don't have a healthy one FIRST

- you might as well 'offer up' all your worldly possessions and become Hari Krishna, or climb a mountain in the Himalayas...how would you contribute to society that way?

What follows below seems contradictory, but both family systems theory AND what a sponsor might say are both good things to do!

Inner child work IS useful

...to help you get to the point where you forgive yourself

...and it IS true that at some point you're just gonna have to take responsibility for your actions.

Twelve Ways To Tell The Difference Between Your Sponsor And Your Therapist:

1) Your sponsor isn't all that interested in the "reasons" you drank.

2) Your therapist thinks your root problem is your lack of self-esteem, negative self-image, and your poor self-concept. Your sponsor thinks your problem is a 3-letter word w/no hyphens... YOU.

3) Your therapist wants you to pamper your "inner child." Your sponsor thinks it ought to be "Spanked" or "Taken out and Shot!"

4) Your sponsor thinks your inventory should be about you, not your parents!

5) Speaking of parents, your sponsor tells you not to confront them, but you apologize to them.

6) The only time your sponsor ever uses the word "closure" is before the word "mouth."

7) Your sponsor thinks "boundaries" are things You need to take or tear down, not build up.

8) Your therapist wants you to love yourself first; your sponsor wants you to love others first.

9) Your therapist prescribes care taking and medication; your sponsor prescribes prayer making and meditation.

10) Your sponsor thinks "Anger Management Skills" are numbered 1-2-3...12

11) Now that u haven't had a drink in six months, your therapist thinks you should make a list of your goals and objectives for the next five years, starting with finishing up that college degree.

Your sponsor thinks you should start today by cleaning the coffeepots and helping him or her carry a heavy box of literature to the jail.

12) Your sponsor won't lose his license to practice if he talks about God...



No site involving the 12 steps or relating to the 12 steps could be complete without a list of useful one liners that could be heard in a meeting.
Here's what I found useful:

About the 3rd step, let go and let God:

"Everything I ever let go of had claw marks all over it"

"I had an ego that would kill a lesser man"

Damn, this last one was me to a tee!


==========
This article is for informational purposes only.
Please contact a licensed professional in your area
if you are in crisis or require mental health services