Yes, this title sounds harsh. No, it’s not meant to put anyone down
nor is it meant to label anything or anyone stupid. This is a slogan around recovery
communities that isn’t used so much anymore. It’s usually just said as ‘Keep it simple’,
which I admit is a great message by itself. For me though, the stupid works. I didn’t always
agree that it was a useful saying. The
reason it works for me now and didn’t a few years ago is that my perception,
the way I view myself in relation to everything and everyone, has drastically
changed. I used to feel like a
little piece of terd. If someone was trying to help me, but used a slogan with a derogatory term at the end, I took it as a personal offense. I couldn’t hear the message through the
delivery. I don’t feel smaller or
less than anyone today nor do I feel at all unintelligent. Yet now, more than ever, “keep it simple stupid” really does make good, logical sense.
The ‘stupid’ reminds me that I must remain teachable. I heard it said best like this, “You can’t teach someone something they already know.” I spent years telling people I couldn’t stay sober or stop purging. I would tell them exactly why that was. I would tell them what I needed to do if I was ever going to ‘get it’ and then all the reasons and emotions that prevented me from doing any of those things. Clearly, I was not going to change because I had it all figured out. I knew all the answers to all my problems and no one could convince me otherwise. So, neck deep in despair and desperation, I held onto just enough intellectual egoism to stay stuck and miserable.
Finally, finally, finally, I just didn’t know. I had no ideas or solutions of my own and couldn’t find any persuasive arguments to excuse myself from trying something different. It took what it took for me. I could tell stories upon stories that lead me to the day I ran out of ideas, but I could not begin to guess why it was that day that it happened. It simply did. Without answers I began listen to folks who appeared to have them. Stupid me was the beginning of the me I have become today. It gave me enough willingness and openmindedness to seek a simple solution. Thank God I did. It really is simple!
The ‘stupid’ reminds me that I must remain teachable. I heard it said best like this, “You can’t teach someone something they already know.” I spent years telling people I couldn’t stay sober or stop purging. I would tell them exactly why that was. I would tell them what I needed to do if I was ever going to ‘get it’ and then all the reasons and emotions that prevented me from doing any of those things. Clearly, I was not going to change because I had it all figured out. I knew all the answers to all my problems and no one could convince me otherwise. So, neck deep in despair and desperation, I held onto just enough intellectual egoism to stay stuck and miserable.
Finally, finally, finally, I just didn’t know. I had no ideas or solutions of my own and couldn’t find any persuasive arguments to excuse myself from trying something different. It took what it took for me. I could tell stories upon stories that lead me to the day I ran out of ideas, but I could not begin to guess why it was that day that it happened. It simply did. Without answers I began listen to folks who appeared to have them. Stupid me was the beginning of the me I have become today. It gave me enough willingness and openmindedness to seek a simple solution. Thank God I did. It really is simple!
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