And so we come to the end of my first month on this very challenging job...

 

And so we come to the end of my first month on this very challenging job...

A lot of overtime today.  An extra early start and, considering when we started, quite a late finish:  7:00am to 7:00pm.  Some work more, many work less, that's what it was today.  Not a complaint, merely a description.  Context, if you will.

And from today I have this little nugget to share with you:

 

7:15am:  I sit in the office with my boss, going over administrative things, reviewing what she's shown me for the past month.  I think to myself, "She thinks I'm stupid.  I look so stupid to her.  She must think I'm stupid."  Over and over, almost like a drumbeat.  On the heels of those thoughts come: "I am not learning this quickly enough.  This is a terrible situation.  I'm just not cut out for this."

10:15am:  On to different tasks, now I think:  "She really got saddled with me.  She doesn't like me.  She probably is sick of me.  I'm not working out here, and she feels stuck with me."

Kids, really, that is literally what I was thinking, so much so that I had to work hard to both listen to her and pay attention to what I was doing.

One of the things that has come up over the past thirty or so days is that she may go to a different location and, if I work out, I would take over the one we're at now.

At noon she looks at me and says, "Oh Mr. SponsorPants, when we're not working together," (alluding to the idea that she will go to another location) "can we still hang out and text and email and stuff?"

Yeah. I know.

Then, at the end of a long day, we sat down to kick around the past month: "Well, given your experience, we figured you'd be at par on some things, but you're really progressing much faster than we thought or expected on everything else.  There's really nothing negative to say..."

 

Yeah, ok, let's just break that down, shall we?

In my head I'm convinced -- convinced, mind you -- that A) My boss thinks I'm stupid, B) My boss doesn't like me, and C) I'm not "working out" at the job.

The reality seems to be that A) I'm progressing faster than expected, B) my boss enjoys our working relationship to such a degree that it prompts an unsolicited request to keep in close contact should we not be at the same location, and C) there is literally "nothing negative to say."

 

Sometimes there's just no getting around this fact:

 

I.  Am.  Crazy.

 

Is it any wonder that the book Alcoholics Anonymous (AA's Big Book) states, and underscores in a dozen places, "Therefore, the main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind, rather than in his body." (Big Book, pg. 23).

Now, at that point in the text what the book is specifically talking about is the "curious mental blank spot" which clouds the memory of an alcoholic who may have had terrible consequences to their drinking but can still find a way to give themselves permission to pick up a drink (thereby activating the "allergy of the body" which is the physical component of the disease, the terrible, biologically rooted drive to drink uncontrollably once one has started).

But the larger point in AA literature, and certainly what (somewhat embarrassingly) applies to me here, is that our perception of ourselves and our relationship with others and with reality as a whole can be seriously skewed to the negative; and that can become fodder for the slide into self destruction.  The thinking I had today is one example of the kind of raw material alcoholism uses to create that curious mental blank spot.

Alcoholics don't "own" skewed or negative or self-obsessive thinking -- plenty of people struggle with that -- it's foolish and grandiose of us to invest in a belief which makes us "special" by being so damaged in this way.

But what we do own is that, without a spiritual connection, it is this warped version of reality we create which is a key trigger to how our alcoholism helps us give ourselves permission to pick up that first drink.

I am sick (sick!) of this toxic, self-obsessed, merry-go-round in my head which fatigue and fear seem to fuel... but today at least I can sit through it, not act on it, and be present for when reality proves quite a bit brighter than the darkness of my thoughts.

I can sit through it because of the relationships I have in AA, and because of the spiritual connection I feel which, although I snarl and twist and whine like a wild dog on a leash, intervenes on my behalf in strange, often subtle, but very tangible ways.

Thank you -- literally the you that are reading this right now, since, through the extended 12 Step family I believe we are truly all connected, all part of this giant lifeboat, no one of us more important than another, but all of us needed, all of us special -- and thank God.

I've spent enough time cursing the Divine lately -- though I like to think I've owned my process (mostly) as I've gone through it -- that it was important to me to put some gratitude in writing again.

Today I am grateful -- certainly for the work, but more so for the awareness and the recovery I have as I sit tight and come out the other side of those dark mental tunnels which seem so real when you're in them, but always just turn out to be addiction messing with my mind, one more time.

But I make it through -- we make it through.

Comments

[Meribeth]

My club of fear/self-negativity is amazingly heavy to carry around, but becomes light as a feather when I pick it up. Yes, HP thank you for the fellowship, 12 steps and meetings for the strength and perspective I need. I would loose connection with the Boss permanently.

[daisymay]

Standing ovation to you Mr SP. You have written my life for the last couple of weeks.

Thanks to AA, and especially your blog I have been able to deal more constructively with things that would have caused me to self destruct with fear and paranoia previously.

[Syd]

I knew that you would do well and that the "kids" would come to respect you. I am glad that you wrote about negative thinking. It happens to me and is fear motivated--"I'm not good enough", "I fucked up again", "No one likes me" and so on. All fear based tapes that are replayed from so many years. I am grateful to know that now and work on not reacting to those whispers of fear. Thanks for sharing your journey here. You are walking through the fear just fine.

[Virginia]

It is all the same...work, relationships, friendships! We are all crazy and your talking about your journey sheds light on us!

[Linda]

Thank you for allowing me a peek into your life.

[Scott W]

I say that. I know I am crazy. When my mind wants to have its way, when it wants to tell me to be pissed off for no reason. Evidence.

But 'This Too Shall Pass' has served me well. Along with the practice of gratitude, only prayers of gratitude, all the AA work and some other spiritual insights I am turning that stuff around. It works. It really does.

[Debbie G.]

I really appreciated this post. If I really look at it, it is always fear fueling my negativity, but my pride refuses to call it that. So instead of acknowledging and dealing with the fear, I choose to stay stuck. Sheesh, how sick is that? I for one am glad it is the beginning of "insanity" month around here (Step 2). I definitely need to listen.

[VoiceinRecovery]

I absolutely relate! I think it is so common in stinky thinkin. I know I first assume, sometimes react, and then catch up to reality. I have told myself to sit in the fire - a way to breathe, take a break, and really consider the situation objectfully so I can avoid staying in crazy thinking.

[Moi]

Congratulations, that's wonderful! You deserve it!

Yes, you are crazy. So are all of us. But you help us be not-crazy. :-) Thank you so much for posting this blog.

[David H.]

My God man u described whats been going on in my head. I was starting to fall for being terminally unique.Thank u for getting me back on the beam!

[raemelyn]

Connections..I have to share this. I'm an Al-anon with a mother who will have 11 years in 13 days. We had a major (read that MAJOR) falling out 3 years ago. I did not see her for 3 years. I emailed you about this and so much appreciated your experience. Because of the divine help you speak of, I am now able to text my mother who is 1000 miles away, alone in her house with 2 dogs, snowed in deep. She knows her thinking is what gets her buggy so she says our txt conversations have helped her. Because of the connections in these rooms, my mom and I click, really click, now. You know how grateful I am. Thank you.

[Nic]

I love the practice you described of sitting through the negative thoughts and not acting on them. For me this is key to being restored to sanity.

[divalolo]

The thing is, when we have these thoughts we are so convinced that that they are true -- that we are *right* about it.

Recovery gives us the chance to step back, wait and see, what checks out as the *real* reality, just as your example illustrates.

Thank you for demonstrating the method. Thank you for sharing so honestly. Keep on keeping on.