Wise Effort
Wise effort is central to the success of someone on the path of recovery from addiction. At its most basic level, it refers to the quality of effort that freedom demands. This effort has four applications:
The unskillful states of mind are pretty straightforward: greed, hatred, and delusion. A skillful mind state is any state of mind that does not create suffering. An example of a skillful state of mind is gratitude. Another is connection to the present moment. Once a person understands that recovery is her primary purpose, she quickly realizes that using happens after she has been caught in an unskillful state of mind. She may not realize it, but her “program of recovery” is essentially her method for enacting the four forms of wise effort in her life.
The subtlest aspect of wise effort is its ability to bring the mind to still clarity. We enter the present moment through the body and the breath using the meditative application of wise effort. We come into this form of effort by finding the middle ground between steadiness and ease, stillness and rhythm, steadfastness and letting go. As the body finds the middle, the mind finds the moment.
A program of recovery is a plan to cultivate skillful mind states while avoiding or abandoning unskillful ones. In particular, what states of mind lead us toward our substance and what states of mind lead us toward recovery? A good day is when we spend more time in positive mind states than in negative ones. What is your plan for having a good day?