True Recovery

Overview

Ultimately, we're all personally accountable for our actions.  I know it feels like it at times, but there's no mystical force in the universe taking control of our minds and forcing us to do the things we're doing.  We are making a choice, perhaps an unconscious one, to drink that drink, take drugs, make that bet, buy that handbag, whatever. With our impulse problem, we've let ourselves go on "autopilot".

To regain conscious control of our lives; to turn off that autopilot, we need to understand there's a difference between what's happening in the world around us, and our thoughts about that.  That's where Mindfulness comes in.  Mindfulness has it's root in Zen Buddhism, but has been adapted in the treatment of severe personality disorders by the psychiatric community for years.  This article discusses Mindfulness, from the perspective of someone in recovery.

Mindfulness is a skill.  It's the ability to look at the world around us and everyday events without letting our past experiences, thoughts and beliefs cloud the experience.   The Wiki defines Mindfulness as:

The practice whereby a person is intentionally aware of his or her thoughts and actions in the present moment, non-judgmentally.