Was out hiking this weekend enjoying the Fall colors that were just
starting to show.
I look forward to the change in seasons. There is always something to
look forward to with nature.
When it is hot and humid you look forward to cool weather. When your
sick of snow and cold it starts warming up with spring and the crocus
and tulips bloom.
While 'looking forward or backward' is not a good place to spend too
much time, as my Buddhist practice reminds me, it is nice to do in a
small, benign area such as enjoying the upcoming changes in nature.
The Japanese make it a point to use the produce that is in season.
They make the highest and best use of it. I also subscribe to this
policy with the seasons themselves and make best use of them as I
can.
The main thing for me to remember is to take a break from the day to
day hassles of life to slow down enough to enjoy what nature
offers ... just by opening my eyes up.
Many of us suffer from terminal computer addiction. We are stuck in
front of the tube day and night.
Sitting in front of any electric tube or screen excessively is not a
good way to live our life.
Yes, we can spend some of our life doing it, but if we wish to live a
good life we need to get out a little.
Many computer addicts are just 'shells of a human' with glazed eyes,
open gapping mouths and hunched backs sitting all day in front of an
electric box looking for the answer to a happy life when all of the
time the answer is within us.
Lets look at one such addict at our forum...Al Klein
If we study his participation figures we can see he routinely posts in
the multi thousand psots area every month. . Sometimes posting over
8000 posts in a month.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2002 207 1918 3989 5076 3627 3537
2003 2365 5100 4026 4492 2485 3549 1958 3010 3465 2371 4232
6025
2004 5505 3644 59 9 3 62 1788 1226
2005 8270 8249 791 1 104 13 226
2006 86 304 215 319 194 781 717 853 351 6567 7896 4957
2007 4924 1514 1819 2900 3248 2588 1834 8184 6145
It much easier to fantasize about something else than stay in the hear
and now isn't it?
Instead of writing about a fantasy life, we can go create a real life,
a life we can be proud of.
I try and catch myself when I practice this escapism and work to bring
my thoughts back to the present.
Whenever the fantasy starts I check to see what I am escaping from?
Why do I fixate on something else instead of where I'm at?
The Tibetan Buddhists use the tool of meditation - meditation on death
as an exercise to help them live with gratitude and peace in the
present.
They meditate on the fact that death is certain to all living things
and the time of their death is also uncertain.
This helps them to live each moment in a way that will give them a
good death or transition into a new reincarnation.
Death could come as you read this or next year, but sooner or later
our day will come.
We can develop a higher awareness and gratitude for our life and all
that it contains at this very moment once we accept these facts and
treasure how fragile life is and the gift we have been given.
And even as we lay dying someday we can die peacefully by practicing
grateful acceptance for having the opportunity to have lived a life at
all. Once we accept death peacefully we can move on and need less
things to distract and blind us.
Developing a list of positive time fillers was a big help with my
addictions.
As Thoreau wrote in Walden , "The devil finds work for idle hands."
Before heading in this new direction, most of my time was occupied by
what to buy next, overeating rich foods and getting fat and when I
wanted a break from that I had a picnic basket of other addictive
areas to get drugged up with.
Most of my new activities are sport or movement related as they also
serve the purposes of helping with my overeating disease and have the
added benefit of improved health and don't produce clutter like some
hobbies do. In addition they help with depression, balance and
equilibrium and brain functioning. Now, keeping busy is not the cure
all for addicts, but it is a necessary foundational pillar.
Other areas of importance are those activities that relax our minds or
stimulate them for healthy growth potential.
Bottom line: is the activity pleasing to us, healthy, nurturing and
sustainable?
You can also use the SCA guidelines for any questions about the
activity: is the activity placing unreasonable demands on my time and
energy, will it place me in legal jeopardy or endanger my mental,
physical or spiritual health?
Remember, as Jack LaLane said, exercise and eating healthy, natural
foods are the King and Queen of good health. If you hate to move and
hate to eat well, then do as he also said; "I developed a liking for
things that are good for me."
Now I have much to look forward to in life for activities or rewards
that are not destructive and are sustainable.
Activities to occupy yourself that don't revolve around spending,
eating, gambling, drugs or alcohol or other addictive areas only go so
far in recovery though.
You also have to be careful to take time to relax and not escape life
through activity.
Horace wrote, "Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt--You
can run away as far as you like but you'll never get away from
yourself."
12 Step work, reducing stress, repairing the wreckage of the past and
living a balanced life all contribute to heading in the right recovery
direction.
I've enclosed a few of some of my activities below for your perusal.
Hiking, Mountain Bike, Climbing Gym and Rock Climbing, Basketball,
Rollerblading, Trail Running, Jet Skiing, Racquetball, Swim, Sun Bath,
Fishing, Canoeing, Skateboarding, Weight Training, Target Shooting,
Camping, Jogging, Kayaking, Motorcycle, Snowshoe, Downhill Skiing, XC
Skiing, Yoga, Massage, Meditation, Dirt Bike, Free Lectures and Movies
at a Local University, Snow Tubing, Snorkeling / Scuba, Napping or
Relaxing in a Hammock, Bar B Q, Picnics, Library, Spiritual Studies,
Free Musical Events and Concerts, Scenic Seasonal Car Trips, Travel.
Exercise and healthy eating are the king and queen of good health.
They must also sit on a thrown of low stress living. I hope you make
the king and queen part of your life. Here is a small snip from
Psychotherapy Toady regarding the benefits of exercise with addiction.
Why does exercise have such an impact on the emotional brain?
Naturally, there is, first of all, its effect on endorphins. These
tiny molecules secreted by the brain resemble opium and its
derivatives, such as morphine and heroin. The emotional brain contains
many receptors for endorphins, and that's why it is so sensitive to
opium-it immediately radiates a sensation of well-being and
satisfaction by hijacking one of the emotional brain's own intrinsic
mechanisms. Opium has a powerful effect on emotions-in fact, it's the
strongest known antidote to the pangs of separation and mourning.
However, when derivatives of opium are used too often, they can become
habit forming. Brain receptors become inured to them, so the dose must
be systematically increased in order to produce the same effect.
Moreover, because the receptors become less and less sensitive,
regular pleasures lose all their power and potency-including sex, the
pleasure of which is often reduced in drug addicts.
The secretion of endorphins brought on by physical exercise does
exactly the opposite. The more the natural mechanism of pleasure is
gently stimulated by exercise, the more sensitive the mechanism itself
becomes. In addition to relishing sex and life's other big pleasures,
people who exercise regularly actually get more pleasure out of the
little things in life: their friendships, their cats, their meals,
their hobbies, or even the smiles of passersby in the street.
Essentially, it becomes easier for them to be satisfied, And in fact,
the experience of pleasure is just the opposite of depression.
Depression is defined, above all, by the absence of pleasure, more so
than by sadness, which is probably the reason why the release of
endorphins has such a potent antidepressant and anxiolytic effect.
Stimulating the emotional brain by exercise also kindles the immune
system. It promotes the proliferation of "natural killer" cells,
making them more aggressive against infections and cancer cells. The
opposite effect occurs with heroin addicts, whose immunedefenses
collapse, often causing them to become gravely ill.
Exercise may also strengthen another physiological mechanism related
to emotional health. This mechanism involves what we have already
learned about heart rate variability. "'People who exercise regularly
show a greater variability in heart rate and more coherence than
people who do not. This means that their parasympathetic system, the
physiological "brake" that brings on periods of calm, is healthier and
stronger. A good balance between the two branches of the autonomic
nervous system is one of the best potential antidotes to anxiety and
panic attacks. All the symptoms of anxiety start with an overactive
sympathetic system, a dry mouth, accelerated heartbeat, sweating,
trembling, a rise in blood pressure. The sympathetic and
parasympathetic systems are always in opposition. Thus, the more
stimulation the parasympathetic branch receives, the stronger it
becomes-like a developing muscle.
BTW, check out:
http://www.computeraddiction.com/
http://www.rider.edu/suler/psycyber/cybaddict.html
http://cse.stanford.edu/classes/cs201/Projects/computer-addiction/
Take care,
V (Male)
Agnostic Freethinker
Practical Philosopher
AA#2
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