Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
Welcome to the
Recovery is a Process of
Decisions podcast.
This is Trent Thomas, yourrecovery peer support
specialist.
This week's episode is entitledDealing with Desire in Recovery.
(01:43):
Desire is defined as a strongfeeling of wanting to have
something or wishing forsomething to happen.
Desire can be the beginning ofdeception.
In the mind of an addict, itcould translate to self
deception.
(02:04):
Desire begins in the mind andcultivates in the heart.
In the mind of an addict, thisdesire will readily transfer
into a tornado of want.
Raging want focus into whatbecomes a raging need.
(02:25):
Needs rate higher in terms ofnecessity than food and water.
Thus a simple desire can readilybecome a blatant necessity
greater than the staples ofeating and drinking the
components of life itself.
(02:46):
This once simple desire cantransform itself into a cry for
life.
Desires exist in the imaginationof man.
Imagination is the gift from Godthat lifts man to the highest
order on this planet.
(03:07):
Everything we see, enjoy or use,such as the phone, the car, the
train, the plane, or the clothesand shoes we wear, all began in
the imagination of a man orwoman.
(03:28):
With the imagination we canconjure up and invent things
that never before existed.
With imagination God formed intobeing the sun, moon, and stars.
In fact, the entire universe wasfashioned from the imagination
(03:50):
of God.
From the darkness of nothing,every entity that exists today
was formed from the imaginativegenius of God's mind's eye.
His imagination is so extremethat he calls into being the
(04:11):
atom, the building block of alllife and materials of every
structure in the known andunknown universe.
The quality of imagination waspresented as a gift to man.
It is what makes mankindexceptional.
(04:36):
We can draw from a blank slatethe inventions of useful
objects, objects such as sportscars and jet engines.
All these structures, includingthe raw materials used to
fashion them into shape, camefrom the imagination of mankind.
(05:00):
Our imagination can be vivid andtransformative.
Our imagination can be enrichingas well as destructive.
From our imagination we can drawany picture and project any
reality.
(05:21):
With our mind's eye, we cancreate any scenario and make any
situation a reality.
Our imagination exists while weare awake or even asleep.
The images of our imaginationwhile asleep are called dreams.
(05:44):
We know dreams can be vividkaleidoscopes complete with
images invoking pleasure orpain.
They can perceive happiness orhorror, fantasy or nightmares.
Within our imagination is wheredesire is seeded and planted.
(06:09):
This desire, if cultivated andnot capped, can foster into deep
desires, otherwise known aswants.
These wants can cyclone intoneeds.
Needs circumvent all reality andpress one into perpetual action.
(06:33):
Needs are of the highest orderof request for our lives.
A need is slated as a primaryrequest for our mind to follow.
With needs, there is questioningof if it is a necessity.
Needs are obeyed in the mind'seye.
(06:55):
Food or sustenance is a need.
Water is a need for our mind toobey.
Needs are obeyed as life dependson them.
Once the mind determines arequest is a need, obtaining it
(07:16):
is mandatory.
Life is dependent on satisfyingall requests that are in fact
needs.
If a desire is seeded andcultivated and then transformed
into a want, which is thencycloned or spun out of control
(07:37):
until it becomes a need.
This desire is hunted andtracked until it is acquired,
regardless of the sacrificesthat must be endured to obtain
it.
For an addict there is no offswitch.
(07:58):
For an addictive mindset chasinga cyclone want that is being
considered a need is in everydayoccurrence.
The chase becomes normal, infact expected.
For me, I crave the daily chase.
(08:19):
My very life was dependent uponchasing something every day.
There was never a conclusion.
Once acquired, a new chase wasinitiated.
In fact, the statement one istoo many and a thousand is never
(08:40):
enough was so very true for me.
It was my life's motto.
It is how I scheduled my life,chasing the very substance that
rushed my early premature death.
The desires of the mind matureduntil they became death dealing
(09:04):
components of self deception.
In recovery, I have learned tocap my desires, putting a
blanket over the fertile growingfield so that the seeds of
desire do not take root and growinto seedlings of wants and
(09:27):
cyclone into self deceptiveimages of needs.
Life is short.
Sometimes we do not know howshort.
Only by transforming how I lookat items of desire can I cap
these desires.
By perceiving the very items Ionce desired as poison or
(09:54):
disruptors of my recovery, thesedesires become disgusting
tasting bitters in my mind'seye.
Unwanted, undesirable inunfulfilling concepts.
Only when the desires becomeundesirable can the desires be
(10:15):
capped.
Dead seeds in barren soil.
Misaligning the dreams ofdesires is an effective tool in
stemming the flood of images.
In addition, knowing yourself,knowing what starts your inner
(10:36):
desires and presatisfying thoseurges.
You don't chase what you alreadyhave.
Finding satisfaction in yourlife and contemplating your
wants before they become needs.
Understanding what you cannotchange and praying for the
(11:01):
strength and courage to changewhat you can.
To thyself be true.
Beware of people, places andthings.
Know your own weaknesses andsubmit to being satisfied in
(11:22):
your life.
The chase is no longernecessary.
Being satisfied with the factthat you could have that, and
you don't necessarily need toacquire that, the fact that you
could is good enough.
(11:42):
Living in the here and now,satisfied with where you are at
in life and forever grateful forthe second opportunity to just
do better.
Knowing that you can't take itwith you, and just because you
(12:03):
can doesn't mean you should.
All things that look good to youare not necessarily good for
you.
Gratitude is the key tosustaining recovery.
God knows what we know not.
(12:25):
All things according to hisplan, not ours.
For me, I know I serve a awesomeand magnimous God, a God of
immense power and forgiveness, aGod of second chances, a God of
(12:47):
recovery, and his mandate of notrequiring perfection, but
instead a requirement to just dobetter.
Better today than yesterday.
My desires do not haunt or temptme.
(13:10):
I cap them with gratitude andserenity.
The satisfaction of knowing eachday I breathe, I got it all.
Serenity at its best.
This is Trent Thomas on anotherepisode of Recovery is a process
(13:32):
of decisions podcast.
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(13:56):
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(14:22):
Thank you and have a blessedday.