Someone recently said that, when our emotions take over, we make bad decisions. That struck me, because I have recently been thinking about what often triggers my emotions. Fear, anxiety, worry can be the start.
At night, before I go to sleep, I read some of the AA literature. Last few nights I have been reading Came To Believe. These readings bring some of this to mind. Why? Because, even though it was published around some 40 years ago, it was written by many alcoholics, just like myself. The same thoughts and feelings.
The main thrust of these writings are about spiritual awakenings and our relationships to our Higher Power. And those thoughts bring me right back to the present. The now. The moment.
That’s the problem isn’t it? Those feelings, which can lead to an emotional takeover. They can get us off to the future or the past in the blink of an eye. Exactly where I don’t belong. What I can’t handle. How could I? It’s not in the moment.
And the man, who made that statement in the beginning, was right. When the emotions take over my judgment is gone. My emotions are doing the thinking for me. I’m not in charge anymore.
However, the moment I can recognize this, is the moment I need to get in touch with my Higher Power. To save me from myself. No telling what decisions I might make under the influence of emotions. Could be disastrous. Especially if it is anger or resentments. How many times have I seen what it has done to others, who have gone out and lost their sobriety.
That’s enough for me to do what many of these people said in what I have read. To always remember Who is in charge of my sobriety. My Higher Power. So now that I’m thinking about it, I think I’ll stay in the now and remember to ask my Higher Power for the grace I need to relax, to accept whatever is going on, over which I have no control, and surrender to His will for me. The key to serenity.