It's nice to look back and see an honest assessment of the progress you have made. But looking too far forward can be overwhelming, just ODAAT.

What do you folks (if anyone is indeed listening) think about these thoughts?

1) In mussar and Torah thought we know there is a principle of mitoch she lo lishma ba lishma. How does that work out with the 12 steps which is clearly a different, and hte only effective system for recovering from addiction. Does  a lo lishma motivator work in the 12 steps? For example, I got here because I am sick of being ruled by my addiction and need help as well as tools and group support to be able to be able to control myself. That is the broken beginning. 
Today I wake up and look at the chart and I am all depressed.... Damn only one day.... Then I look at the wall of honor and say, I had 90 days of sobriety in the past and I want it back. I want to be recognized for that. - So I went from being broken, which is where I should be, to wanting to be recognized for having had 90 days in the past. - Well is that desire kosher or not? In mussar we would say, yeah, it's a good motivator as long as you don't stop there and want to purify your motivations. - In the steps though... is this 'kosher'? I would think yes, all group support settings are partially about a person wanting to succeed in front of the group. But I'm just an addict so I may not know that much..... 

2) Another interesting though flew through my head a little while ago... oh yah.. How much is too much GYE time? Gotta think about that too... If recovery is preventing me from being productive that is not so good either. 

Im not yet so professional with the acronyms.... ODAAT? 

Apparently it was invented in 2010

One
Day
At
A
Time

OTR wrote on Unknown:

GYE should mainly be used for REAL work on recovery via the use of the many tools available here. 
Figure out how much time you can allot toward recovery each day, and spend it doing the REAL recovery work.
I recommend keeping a prioritized list of your REAL recovery actions.
GYE is also commonly used as a sort of video game, which imho should be avoided as much as possible.

Reb Shteeb I think I view things very very differently than you do

Is it because of my mild aspergers (that many have)?

i don't see GYE as a game at all - it's my life, recovery and a little fun too, but not a video game at all

many people come on here with names that represent their real life name with a hint eg most Yesodishe guys probably are Yossi in real, OR people choose a mood name from "Thenewme" (new user - is that cordnoy's 2nd login?) to "skeptical"

I personally would never have chosen usernames that represent nothing eg, table, shtender, world, shul, shteeble
These are not ways to identify people or any emotions, and you are very deep

so - we are very different...

One day I hope to meet up with the REAL you in real life - soon!!!

GYE is no video game. It's a place to connect to people and to really express and work through real issues and to feel a part of something. I've done face-to-face meetings also and it definitely is something beautiful about those, but I've also found something here that I've never found elsewhere. Also, while were not looking to scape real life and we want recovery that is complete, holistic, and down to the core there's nothing wrong with doing it in stages and with this being a distraction as people continue to work to full recovery.

I believe you if you say you don't use it as a video game.
I also believe you if you say that using it to connect rather than isolate is part of your recovery.
I even believe you if you say you have no idea what I'm talking about when I say GYE could be used as a video game.

And...

I used GYE as a video game of sorts for a long time.
For me it was just a practice of time wasting / procrastination / call it what you want.
I wasn't seriously working on recovery actions.

Now back to the question that was asked by the baal ha'thread...

"How much is too much GYE time? Gotta think about that too... If recovery is preventing me from being productive that is not so good either. "

'twood sound like OTR is concerned with it shterring his productivity.
That resonated with me, and I gave my 2 shmentz.

live and let live bros

markz wrote on Unknown:

Yes, that's one thing we both agree on.

markz wrote on Unknown:

Ha.
That was funny.
Can't say the feeling is mutual though.
You sound a little too holy for a simple shteeble like me.

markz wrote on Unknown:

p.s. maybe read what you type before hitting the "submit" button.

Shteeble wrote:



Ok so we see eye to eye on some things...

i just think a question to ask yourself is how in touch are you with yourself on a scale of 0 - 10

i probably score minus 10 sometimes

its something good to ponder on a long Friday night
 

Shteeble wrote:

Which word don't you understand

markz wrote on Unknown:

mild

It's like mild chili





I was concerned there were other words you misunderstood or were superfluous, ok, so we're cool