Spiritually Living
Living a spiritual lifestyle means you try to adhere to spiritual principles and themes. In recovery, we use the term “spiritual lifestyle” often to describe the program of living outlined by the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Each step of the twelve steps has a spiritual theme or a spiritual principle. These themes and principles have no denomination or sect attached to them. Instead, they are considered universal, the things that all people should be striving for to be a better human.
Themes like surrender, humility, honesty, giving, and forgiveness, are all included. We try to live by the spiritual principles set forth by our individual programs of recovery because they keep us on a good path. It feels better to have humility than it does to be stuck in ego.
Lying is a behavior many of us struggled with in our addictive past, so we work hard to take contrary action and be as honest as possible- with ourselves and with others. Rather than hold resentments, we learn to forgive and ask for forgiveness.
We’ve learned through our experience coming to step one in our life that trying to manage and control the things we cannot manage and control only leads to misery, so we surrender to them.
Becoming Well Disciplined Doesn’t Mean That Your Perfect
Becoming more well disciplined in a spiritual lifestyle does not mean you become a saint or a guru. One popular AA saying goes, “We are not saints”. Living along spiritual lines isn’t about becoming a perfect person. The spiritual lifestyle of the twelve steps and of all recovery is learning to progress. It is, after all, as it is said, about progress, not perfection. That being said, you are still allowed to be a perfectly imperfect human who makes mistakes and acts in less than perfect ways- like swearing.
Swearing Is a Form Of An Emotional Release
Though according to new research from New Zealand, swearing might be more spiritual than we think. At the least, swearing might actually be good for you. Swearing is just a form of emotional release. We swear when we can’t find anything else to adequately describe our emotional experience. Rather than come up with a well articulated emotional statement, we go with a four letter word which seems to encompass it all.
The study had a group of participants write the details of a recently distressing situation and bring up all the feelings associated with it. Half the participants were able to curse out loud while the other half could not curse.
Examining the different kinds of pain we feel and the way we experience them, the researchers found that the participants who swore felt less social pain regarding their social distress than those who did not. The mini swearing session helped the participants cope with their emotions and release them.
Lakehouse Recovery Center wants to show clients that they can have fun again in recovery. Our residential treatment programs bring together the best of clinical therapy, holistic healing, and integrative activities to bring balance to mind, body, and spirit. We also have a lot of fun. For information, call us today at: 877.762.3707.