fbpx

Spirituality and How to Know if You’re Upper or Downer

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash

There seems to be two types of people in the world. Upper and Downer. The interesting phenomenon is that the Uppers are surrounded by other Uppers and the Downers are surrounded by other downers. This is a bold example of the Law of Attraction, or the Mirror of Life. Whatever one puts into life, he or she gets exactly the same in return. This is just like the bathroom mirror. If you face it with a scar or scab on your face and a scowl, you get a scar or scab and a scowl image is returned. 

A Downer puts a frown, curse, aggression, misery, and resistance to change into their life’s mirror and guess what is attracted to them. Also, right. Others who are also frowning, cursing, aggressive, miserable, and believing life shouldn’t fluctuate or differ. 

An Upper puts joy, serenity, comfort, assistance into their life’s mirror and guess what is attracted to them. Right! People who are also joyful, serene, comforting, and helping in return. 

There are so many who have believed, seemingly forever, that they were born to be victims. “I’ve got nothing. My parents had nothing. And my kids are not going to have anything either.” This is very common thinking in many, if not most, impoverished, crime saturated areas. This is not limited to these areas, though. Some may have been raised in opulence and feel the same way. They blame others for having more than them. “Mom always liked you best!” “You got everything handed to you and I got only grief.” “For you, the birds sing and for me they dump on my head.” This leads to “If you had my problems, you would drink, too.” This only leads to more “victims” being “manufactured” by the ones who are feeling so victimized and telling all about it. 

Another way of seeing the difference between Uppers and Downers is similar to the difference between the problem and the solution. One is either the problem or the solution. One is either an upper or a downer. One can not be a problem and solution or an upper and downer at the same time. 

Reverend Stephanie Sorensen, of the Flint Life Enrichment Center, recently quoted the Indian Guru Nisargadatta Maharaj who said “Suffering is due entirely to clinging or resisting. It is a sign of our unwillingness to move on and to flow with life.” Reverend Sorensen went on to state “If we are willing, change will grow us and expand us from the inside out by showing us that movement, flexibility and flow are part of God’s Universal Plan. And that plan is here, there, and everywhere throughout this human experience because God is at the Heart of this human experience, within everything including us.” Everything that happens in every situation of our life will have a positive outcome eventually. 

Now, the idea of CHOICE reappears. Remember, if you did not drink or drug today, you now have CHOICES, maybe for the very first time. Just how do you CHOOSE to go? Do you CHOOSE to be an Upper and accept life’s goodness and to help spread this goodness or do you CHOOSE to be a Downer and bring others down into the dark caves of disadvantage that you may have CHOSEN to live in? The CHOICE is yours! CHOOSE wisely!


More can be found on our other pages. We have an AA Zoom meeting, blogs, and a podcast, in addition to our Facebook page. They are updated regularly. We hope that you will join us on these sites and comment so that we can share with each other our experiences, strengths, and hopes. The Zoom meeting is every Monday through Friday, 3:00 PM EST. Meeting ID is 6035280704, Password 399778. To locate the blogs and Facebook pages, simply search @Spiritualityandrecovery. For the podcast, search Spotify.com for Spiritualityandrecovery. On iPhone say “Hey Siri, Play the podcast Spiritualityandrecovery”