And any other negativity or problem that clutters your mind
The one thing that Covid, Goblins, Ghosts, and Witches have in common is that they cause fear in many. Fear is mentioned in the Big Book after each and every character defect and shortcoming. That makes fear the biggest problem to first getting and then keeping sobriety.
I no longer have a death wish so I don’t waste my time and sobriety dwelling on when or how I am going to die. I no longer wish for or fear death.
Covid, goblins, ghosts, and witches are no longer a fear or problem that I have.
Since I discovered that the opposite of fear is faith, I have worked on improving my faith rather than adding to my fears.
Dwelling on any negative thought harms me to my very soul. News organizations make big money reporting, sometimes in a panicked way, the negativity that seems to loom large and in charge in this world.
This reporting, and my listening and watching, lead to a more thoughtful dwelling on the named negativity. As soon as I figured out that listening to and responding to a problem negatively only added to my own negativity. This all then led to dangerous thinking.
Everything that exists is born in a thought. From there, no matter whether it starts positive or negative, it grows. I did not like the thoughts that were going through my mind when I paid close attention to news broadcasts or any problem that they would bring.
Negativity led me to no good for too many years. This was a real problem. In sobriety, I had heard that, if I worked the program to the best of my ability, I would become Happy, Joyous, and Free.
I stopped watching the news and instead maybe glanced at some headlines so that I was aware of what was going on in the world, but not buried in it.
Almost immediately, this added immeasurably to my happiness, joyousness, and personal freedom. The Serenity Prayer implores us to change only the things that we can and also asks us to have the wisdom to know the difference to know this difference.
I can only change myself so I no longer wish to languish in the misery of others. I will try to help anyone with almost anything but I refuse to go into the dumps with anyone.
Emmet Fox said, “You must not under any pretense allow your mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind.”
So it looks like we have an answer to the poser from the topic. How do we deal with any negativity in our lives? We substitute positive thoughts and actions so that we haven’t even got time to ponder any negative.
Simple, but not always easy. So, JUST DO IT! You will begin feeling much better from the minute you do. Thank you, God.
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