The conversion of which I speak can only be accomplished through either spiritual or psychological processes and protocols. Within the clinical realm the arduous efforts to confront and neutralize their pernicious, false, and horribly negative self-perceptions, is achieved with the continuing assistance of a skilled therapist, initially in exploring the content of the individuals unconscious where these atrocious messages and warped notions reside.

         These communiques of misinformation have frequently been placed there over decades of reiteration by parents who themselves have sustained substantial scarring and cognitive deformities, as the result of the nuclear family environment in which they were reared. Subsequent to this investigation are attempts at behavioral modification implemented to remediate the self-destructive patterns of activity in which these individual are ensnared.

         In the absence of a successful intervention by clinicians or by continuing immersion in a program of spiritual enlightenment, the intergenerational transmission of pathologies continues ad nauseam, ad infinitum.

          However, within such spiritual practices as those found in twelve steps fellowships, ever-lengthening sobriety often produces beyond abstinence from drug or alcohol use, a mentality of substantial and warranted self-regard. It is as the result of the implementation of these steps in daily behavioral actions and the cognitive alternations which are possible by the retrieval of sanity, and the crucial task of invoking the assistance of a capability which transcends their personal resources, that this spiritual transformation is enabled.

         In addition, it is by the application of these modalities that the toxicity of self-loathing is supplanted by the awareness that we are deserving of self-esteem, intrinsically by virtue of our inherent status as sentient beings, as well as by the recognition that our conduct has been transformed from exploitive, manipulative, narcissistic, contemptuous, and self-absorbed, to a pattern of interacting with others that is customarily  considerate of their priorities and concerns.

          Moreover, this interpersonal modality is also kind and respectful in tone and tenor, and reflects a continuing desire to be of service to our fellows in a selfless manner, seeking no recompense other than the awareness  that these acts of kindness produce an extraordinary sense of well-being and  contentment, which far exceeds the pleasure they derive from any efforts predicated on self-seeking or ego inflation.

          The fundamental truth of the human experience is the sublime irony that the greatest happiness we can experience is attributable not to those efforts which seek as their objective  the augmentation of rewards or accomplishments for ourselves, but rather are derived from the exertion and actions we undertake to assist our fellow human beings.

           Those attempts to both mitigate the suffering they are experiencing whatever its causes, and augment their opportunities to live fulfilling and meaningful  existences, is the primary source of our contentment. It is in these acts that salvation and self- -transcendence can be found  beyond all other locations in the human experience.