Smart

I went over to the dark side on Tuesday evening and went to a SMART meeting, primarily to pick up a handbook, which may contain some new ideas for dealing with overeating. It does. It contains a generic addiction recovery system, which has a number of areas to OA ignores. OA has always had the attitude that it is the last  stop. In reality, it is real the last stop much like the place where you find your keys is the last place you look. But this overeating is not a single problem, but a number of problems. The people at that SMART program meeting knew nothing about this particular condition.

Some things are up to us and some are not. (Epictetus) Understanding and increasing our motivations, short term and long term, learning to deal with cravings and urges, understanding the roots of addiction, learning to deal with impulses, and learning to deal with life are up to us. The fact that we have this condition is not up to us, so we may be better off not naming ourselves as compulsive overeaters, but apply rigorous honesty to that statement also.

Hi, I am Fred, and I have a behavioural addiction condition, and for today, I choose not to us.

This little 90 minute experience was a growth spurt in available information. At times, I think the program is holding me back by providing a maintenance level, rather than growth level support, but I am grateful that it supported me until I found more information.  Overeating is a PIG. (problem of immediate gratification).