Blog entry for:
Tue, Jan 29, 2008 11:37:20 AM
∞ surrender is only the beginning. ∞
posted: Tue, Jan 29, 2008 11:37:20 AM
once i surrender, i need to learn how to live in the peace i have found. the action of the first step is especially poignant for me this morning, as i am walking a brand new guy through this process. as always, when i am guiding someone through a step, i end-up examining the step myself, and it seems that i am actually working it, or better put, it is working me as it is him. i did have trouble with surrender and still do to some extent, however i have written more than enough words about that particular piece of the problem, and not nearly enough on my experience with the solution. summing up the problem, i seem to only surrender when there is absolutely, positively, no alternate method to get what i am seeking.
so the question is what am i seeking, not how do i get it. and the answer in and of itself is evidence of the transitory nature of my desires …
… okay what was i talking about? oh yeah the transitory nature of my desire structure. if i had been asked way back when what i desired as a result of recovery, i would have been way shortchanged. of course i probably would have spoken about material and physical things, and perhaps paid lip service to my spiritual and emotional desires, but in reality, i would have only talked about those two to look good. it was and still is about appearances for me :). these days, i am looking for the means to accept and implement my new vision of myself. i know that has to come from outside of me, and the only way that will happen is if i decide to surrender, accept that i am powerless over developing the means to live my new vision, and allow the POWER that keeps me clean to show me the way. the question i am stuck at, right here and right now, is how do i humbly ask? and as i let go, and listen and participate i am sure that will be revealed, in its proper time. and on that note it is time to return to the task at hand -- getting the means to pay my mortgage, it after all, all about doing the next right thing.
so the question is what am i seeking, not how do i get it. and the answer in and of itself is evidence of the transitory nature of my desires …
… okay what was i talking about? oh yeah the transitory nature of my desire structure. if i had been asked way back when what i desired as a result of recovery, i would have been way shortchanged. of course i probably would have spoken about material and physical things, and perhaps paid lip service to my spiritual and emotional desires, but in reality, i would have only talked about those two to look good. it was and still is about appearances for me :). these days, i am looking for the means to accept and implement my new vision of myself. i know that has to come from outside of me, and the only way that will happen is if i decide to surrender, accept that i am powerless over developing the means to live my new vision, and allow the POWER that keeps me clean to show me the way. the question i am stuck at, right here and right now, is how do i humbly ask? and as i let go, and listen and participate i am sure that will be revealed, in its proper time. and on that note it is time to return to the task at hand -- getting the means to pay my mortgage, it after all, all about doing the next right thing.
∞ DT ∞
The views expressed on this page are solely the opinion of the author.
While the author is a member of a 12 Step recovery fellowship, these writings are not intended to endorse or express the published wisdom of any fellowship.
These writings are not meant to be socially or politically correct, and if you take issue with any opinions expressed, please seek the guidance of someone wiser than me.
While the author is a member of a 12 Step recovery fellowship, these writings are not intended to endorse or express the published wisdom of any fellowship.
These writings are not meant to be socially or politically correct, and if you take issue with any opinions expressed, please seek the guidance of someone wiser than me.
Another Look!
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☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 1
7) Thus it is that the Great man abides by what is solid, and eschews
what is flimsy; dwells with the fruit and not with the flower. It
is thus that he puts away the one and makes choice of the other.