CBA means what? First, we Conceive, then we Believe, and then we WILL Achieve our goals. We have recently discussed Spirituality and Fear. Now that we know that fear is the foundation of ALL of our character defects and shortcomings, what can we do about them? “If you had, coming up, the same thing that I do, you would be fearful, too.” “If you did what I did, you would be fearful, too.” “Why do I wake up in the middle of the night and not even know why” “Why can’t I just go to bed and go to sleep instead of fretting and stewing about my problems?” “I believe that X is a healthy fear.”
First, there is no healthy fear! Fear is fear and not to be desired in my life. I respect the heat of a flame and do not stick my hand into one but I do not fear the flame. I respect the fact that, if I jump out of a cruise ship while in the ocean, I will probably drown but I do not fear it. Fear is a thought in our minds and so can be changed at any time that we have had enough dread and misery.
How do I do this? I use the CBA principle by first Conceiving the feelings that I really want. I want to be Happy, Joyous, and Free. I picture the images of being this way, calm and serene. I then Believe that it can happen to me. After all, I see it happening all around me in the faces and lives of others in the AA program who have found peace and serenity after probably suffering horrible, painful lives. If they can do it, so can I! If I first Conceive this, then Believe it, I WILL Achieve it.
Think back to watching world-class athletes prepping for a race in the Olympics. For instance, take a hurdler. Watch the person’s head bobbing as they stand at the starting line visualizing their skimming over each and every hurdle and then watch them burst from the starting blocks and do just what they had visualized.
If you are an alcoholic and did not drink or drug today, you are a world-class individual alcoholic. One of the very few who has accomplished this. Don’t shortchange yourself – the stats don’t lie. Most alcoholics and/or addicts do not make it out of the cellars of their addiction. Many die, end up in prison or Psych wards and few survive as we all are doing right now.
I was going to say “so far” but I do not wish to put any limitations on all of the Happiness, Joy, and Freedom from mind-altering substances that we have now. And it will only get better IF WE WORK OUR PROGRAM 24/7/365. See, there is a cost to all this. In our case, the cost is our working our program to the best of our ability. We have leaned on our higher power who is working through others in the program and this is all fine.
Now we must CONTINUE to work our program and help others in all of our waking moments so that we can not only keep what we have gained but continue to obtain more. How do we do this? We work our program 24/7/365, not just during meetings.
Don’t be afraid of living happily. Gladly accept the fact that you can now truly live and enjoy life. If you didn’t drink or drug today, you now have choices, maybe for the first time. Do you choose to be miserable or do you choose to be Happy, Joyous, and Free? The choice is yours and nobody else’s’. Choose wisely!