Temple Hayes: When Did You Die?
Once you being to rid yourself of “old ways” of living which you have learned from someone else (usually someone whose life is not working), you begin to shed layers of who YOU ARE NOT. It’s likened to having an amazing automobile and putting the wrong gas in it. It will not go anywhere. We have a lot of adults in adult bodies not going anywhere!
When you let go of who you are not–which is so easy since being who you are not is a total struggle–then you begin to wake up and see that life has been working for you all along. You simply were putting in the wrong gas. When you align with who you are, then you begin to “connect the dots” and see how what you think and feel appears in your life. You become alive to what you have and who you are. You begin to get excited about the mystery of what each day has in store for you. You become invigorated and inspired, filled with energy and passion versus dying, dread and feeling drained.
OMTIMES: I know you have more than 27 years of sobriety. Will this book give some new insights to people in recovery? Can you comment on that?
Temple Hayes: Yes, for the easiest part of addiction is to say “no” to what you are putting in your body or your mouth. That’s just the beginning. You have to die to the false self that you have lived with for a very long time and break the spell you were under for most of your life. To stop drinking, does not change the behavior; it simply means you get to remember the behavior. I feel my book will help people see the joy and miracles I have witnessed due to “dying to the old behavior” and allowing the real me to emerge. The body is not designed naturally to be abused through drugs and alcohol; it is a slow suicide walking half-dead through life, while being immensely disconnected and drained.
