Friday, August 22, 2008

--DARK AGE SOCIETIES--

A dark age is a time without government, without trade, and without any sense of community. It is a time of everyone for him or herself. During a dark age, mere survival is the only concern. No one has the leisure for any higher activity, including keeping records. That is why a dark age is dark. Its principal feature is that we know nothing of what took place in it.
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A dark age is a melting pot when the old, exhausted institutions of a society are broken down and destroyed. Something new and better suited to human needs can then be built up in their place.
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"The world is one great city, and the substance out of which it is formed is single, and there must necessarily be a cycle of change, in which one thing gives way to another, and some things are destroyed and others come into being, and some things remain where they were and others are moved."
~Epictetus 1st century AD Stoic philosopher

--WE DO RECOVERED--

A lie that many of us tell ourselves is one that one recovering addict told himself too: “For years I knew I was a drug addict—by my definition at the time. I kept saying to myself, I’m the only person I’m hurting, and I can stop whenever I want. I just don’t want to. That’s the big lie. Deep down I knew I couldn’t stop and I didn’t think there was any way out. But I was wrong;
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I’m living proof that recovery is possible. I was a pretty rebellious person, and I used that attitude to get clean. The last time I got into self-treatment, I said to myself, damn it, I’ll show you I can get clean, and I did. "There is a way to get out of the spot you’re in!”
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For many addicts, junkie pride masks strong feelings of hopelessness and shame. The hopelessness, especially in early treatment, says, “This is really hard and it’s never going to work anyway, so I might as well just go back to using”
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We need to watch out for this kind of thinking, because it can lead us into sabotaging any treatment. If we find ourselves thinking like this, talk with a counselor or another recovering addict. They’ve been there, they can help.

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Addiction is the same no matter what drug we use. If we pay attention, we’ll notice how much we have in common with other recovering addicts—and we’ll be able to get help and support from them.
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http://www.alexandriaky.org/cgi-bin/police/publish/printer_35.shtml