“Now about health: A body badly burned by alcohol does not often recover overnight nor do twisted thinking and depression vanish in a twinkling. We are convinced that a spiritual mode of living is a most powerful health restorative.” (Page 133)
When I decided to really work the programme properly, I was disappointed when I continued to encounter problems. I thought that, as soon as I made the decision to do so, my problems would vanish, I’d not have challenges, I’d not have difficulties, I’d not have bad days, I’d not have negative emotions, I’d not have setbacks, I’d not have to work at it, I’d not have to exercise discipline and vigilance, sometimes exerting myself considerably to avoid self-indulgent thinking and to engage actively and constructively in the world.
I finally learned that I was in this for the long haul.
When adopting a system wholeheartedly, it’s a good idea to give it a year or two before assessing ‘whether it’s working’. A watched pot doesn’t boil.
The devil wants to get in there and suggest, like he would to someone who has been to the gym for a week, that it’s a waste of time because he has not lost four stone and does not look like a body builder.
When I was mentally flabby and decided to shape up, I was frankly going to have to put up with remaining mentally flabby until I had learned the skill of being mentally disciplined about junk-thinking and mental training. That’s the job of years, not minutes. The system takes a long time to rewire.
In addition, when, after X years, I fully gave myself to the programme, I was resetting the clock at zero. Five minutes into the new way of life, I was five minutes in, not X years plus five minutes. This took the pressure off.