Trusting Basic Functions

This is a spot I don't often hear at as many RI meetings now as I did years ago. What does it mean to "trust your basic functions" and how do we apply it to daily life? 

Recently, I attended an online writing workshops. The facilitator gave us three writing prompts and then we had 15 minutes to pick one (or all of them) and write something creative. I sat there staring at the cursor blinking on the screen. What should I write about? I came up with a short poem using one of the prompts, then stalled. 

After the workshop ended, I felt disgusted with myself (fearful temper). I had racing thoughts, including, "I can't write. I can barely write an email so what made me think I could write anything remotely creative" and similar negative thoughts. 

I stewed about this all through the weekend. But then today, as I wrote down my still-working example , I realized I can write. Sure, maybe not poetry or short stories, but I can write a sentence using proper syntax and grammar. It may not be the most basic of functions but at least is something fairly basic for me. 

When I first started attending RI meetings (back when the program was called Recovery, Incorporated -- I'm that old). I had this habit of thinking I didn't lock a door or turn off the stove when in fact, I had. I kept checking the stove and door, sometimes a few times and sometimes many times, before satisfying the impulse to keep checking. Then I remembered I can trust my basic functions and know that if the door feels locked and looks locked, it is, and that if the stove burners are turned to the off position and there's no flame or heat coming from the burner, and I don't smell gas (in the case of a gas stove) it's off. My basic functions--sight, touch, and smell--work, and I know I can trust them. This helped me break the habit of checking the door and stove numerous times before leaving the house along with other RI techniques such as controlling my impulses and spot "the resoluteness of the muscles overcomes the defeatist babble of the brain."

Long before RI, I convinced a friend drive a half hour back to my parents house with me to check that the door was locked. I haven't done this once since joining RI more than 26 years ago. 

This is my interpretation of the spot. You may have your own. That's the beauty of RI, that we can accept or reject any spot given and any interpretation of a spot an average member makes. And if nothing else, I'm an average RI member. But I do hope to hear this spot more often at upcoming meetings.




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