Text 265, 74 rader
Skriven 2006-02-17 14:25:17 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
    Kommentar till text 231 av James Bradley (1:134/77.0)
Ärende: What's in...  1B.
=========================
Hi again, James!  This is a continuation of my previous message to you:

JB>  The more I understand of it, the more these twelve step
JB>  programs make sense. It's almost as predictable as the
JB>  stages of mourning. A person has to realize they are
JB>  flawed, regardless how perfect they perceive themselves


           Agreed.  We've had a number of people in SURVIVOR over the years who
were in twelve-step programs... and I've lurked in various echoes based on this
concept.  One reason was that I knew some of the people there, another was that
I was going through a very similar series of stages while Nora was in treatment
for leukemia.  I see it as a natural progression which has been formalized into
a sort of road map and/or lesson plan for the guidance of those concerned.  :-)



JB>  I need to shut up, and you start me in on these topics!

AH>  I'm delighted to hear it... [chuckle].

JB>  L!!! Ya, I just worked off the cortisone. I've a couple
JB>  of your messages in stockpile, I've wanted to comment
JB>  on, and you're *delighted*? <LOL>


           I have a whole bunch of your messages in stockpile which I'd like to
comment on, but other things keep happening here too!  I guess it's the teacher
in me.  I enjoy the results when I've started you in on these topics....  :-)))



AH>  I read somewhere that people who feel they have some
AH>  control of their own destiny are mentally healthier
AH>  than people... including the recidivists, perhaps?
AH>  ... who feel like victims of chance.

JB>  I'm not sure I buy that, cart blanch.
                              |carte blanche


           I wouldn't expect you to.  I don't buy much that way either....  :-)



JB>  There are MANY healthy Buddhists.

JB>  Maybe, happy subjects of circumstance???


           Ah... or maybe the idea requires some further explanation!  It seems
to me that Buddhists think in terms of "going with the flow" whereas Christians
think in terms of being "content with the state of life to which God has called
us" and/or "submitting to the will of God".  Either way, they believe there's a
logical reason for what happens.  We may not always understand the reason... or
at least not until later... but the choices we make will have some impact.  The
type of people under examination in the article which I mentioned above weren't
thinking in metaphysical terms.  They were older teens & young adults who could
see little or no relationship between what they did & what happened to them.  I
had students like that.  I'd say "If you do xxx, I'll do yyy."  Then, when they
did xxx and I did yyy, they didn't seem to understand what had hit them.  Maybe
they preferred not to.  But various research suggests there are people who feel
completely at the mercy of random events... either because they're extreme SP's
who live almost entirely in the moment, or because they had caregivers who made
threats & promises which were never carried out.  I suspect the recidivists may
include people like this because they don't connect breaking the law with going
to jail, studying & doing homework today with getting a good job tomorrow, etc.
Or if they do, they reckon a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA [telnet: bandmaster.tzo.com] (1:153/716)