Editor’s Note: E. Victoria Lee is a published author and spiritual teacher. In 2000, she wrote “Secrets in the Soul,” which is now available on Amazon.com. A fellow traveler, we are honored to have her guest blog on soberhelpnow.net.

Session 1: Developing a Higher Belief System about ME (My Energy)

From Workbook on Healing the Inner Child/Self (Original printing 1997)

Written by E. Victoria Lee, D.D., Author, Los Angeles (sobriety date 10/21/1981)

What a pleasure to be able to perhaps assist you who are working on recovering from a hopeless state of mind and body. One of the things I’ve learned over time is that I am the yacht and my Higher Power is the Captain. So I work every day to get out of my own way and seek means for increasing my understanding of why I’ve gone through certain areas which took me the place of recovery. I have practiced many years of writing down my feelings and thoughts that dare throw me a curve. Yes, I’ve found that my thinking has always been a hindrance for me because of fear of asking questions or fear of thinking that someone would think I was crazy in my thinking. Well, guess what? I have come through a period of insanity to find myself on the shores of recovery. Along the way I have used techniques in writing that I learned and put together in order to help others to find out more about our personal patterns of thinking. Hence, herein you will find some questions that might kick start your writing about those deep dark thoughts sworn to never see the light of day. After 30 years of sobriety I have many journals. I don’t write every day and some times I write every day and even twice a day. The point is that I write without stressing out about writing. I’ve learned a lot that have served to help me live a serene (forget the “happy” which is a fleeting feeling), prosperous, joyful sobriety. I don’t miss anything I once had and it is true that my worse day sober is better than my best day inebriated. Please grasp this tool because it takes you further into your thinking, probably further than you ever thought about. Enjoy the process.

Steps to Proceed: (1) Grab a quiet spot and use a few moments thinking. (2) Write what comes to mind without editing even if it doesn’t make sense now (stay sober and more will be revealed!). Using these basis for growing in sobriety will assist you to walk through the early days of sobriety and even later on, allow you to remember who you truly are and not the false picture one paints of the self. (3) Tell the truth no matter how hurtful it may feel about how you felt back then that’s carried into your present. (4) Share your story because that’s truly what it is. We have all been actors on the stage of life and often acted badly. (5) Attempt through your writings to come to a place firstly of making friends with your younger self (inner child that always seeks to come out at the worst times and embarrass). (6) In progressing in the writings, allow yourself to flow toward growing up all over again into the spiritual person you were created to be. You are going to find a far better person than you ever may have dreamed of knowing.It all begins with the masks we have used to protect ourselves, i.e., diplomatic, distant, busybody, know it all, goal-oriented but never reaching it (Why?), dreamer. lazy, impulsive: all just masks we used to protect our self. Of course there are many more, so see which ones you discover that have hounded you far back as you can remember. Come up with your own as you proceed and continue to add on to the list as you utilize this process. I will give you 2 questions to write on each time we meet. I’m thinking (yes thinking!) good thoughts your way!

Question 1: Some of my thinking from childhood and beyond that continue to function today; when/how did you begin this thinking?

Question 2: Some of the thinking I have about my body and my health are (Where did they come from?)

© 2012 E. Victoria Lee – All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.