transition to step two?

["David Yeh" <ldreamr@...>]

I have a question/problem that I'd like to invite comment on ... I'm 
still at Step One, and I am finding that my practice of some of the 
exercises is being held up by issues that according to the steps I 
should be dealing with in Step 2. For instance, my addiction to 
sugar and the issues surrounding it are affecting my energy level, 
which is in turn affecting my ability and motivation to be mindful 
and to practice emptiness of mind.

I guess my question is, what is the balance? On the one hand, of 
course I don't want to move on to step two before I'm ready. On the 
other hand, it seems like it would take years of character 
transformation to truly master being mindful and empty and being 
completely undistracted when practicing things like the magic of 
food. There are a lot of reasons why I let myself become distracted, 
a lot of issues to delve through.

When is it enough? For instance, I can do a few minutes of 
emptiness, but it is highly inconsistent -- some days I'm much better 
than others. One thing I have to do to address that is to adjust my 
diet and sleep habits. It also has to do with why I hold tension, 
and the way I hold tension in my body, which in turn has to do with 
how I deal with other emotional events, etc., ad infinitum. But how 
much is too much, at what point am I just getting bogged down and not 
moving forward, when it seems like any attention in these areas is in 
some ways moving forward -- however slowly?

Any comments?


Thanks,
David