I have been clean for:
I Stand With Ukraine

Welcome

Journal

Some memes

Feel Free to steal and repost these memes!

Surrender meme Work the steps meme

ฮผ when driven primarily by self-will, i constantly wondered whether i had covered all the bases ฮผ

Posted: Thu, Jun 26, 2008 10:24:58 AM

it was hard, living on self-will, but i did not know any other way, nor was i likely to discover another way based on the life i was living. good thing i came to recovery when i did, after all, the consequences of years of being in active addiction were finally becoming visible in my life and were finally becoming unacceptable to me. so it goes. although the reading was about surrender, what i heard this morning was the self-will theme. of course that flows naturally into the surrender theme, however i am a bit distracted this morning and unable to focus on a single anything. am i living in self-will? well, the real question is am i choosing to live in self-will, because i do have a choice today. i understand the concept of the Third step and accept its premise on at least an intellectual level all the time. however getting from my mind to my heart and into the spiritual realm, is where i often fall short. i like to BELIEVE that i surrender my will and my life all the time, without hesitation or reservations. BUT i know that this is hardly the case. so little, periodic reminders, such as the reading this morning, are certainly good for this addict. those reminders force me to do an inventory of my actions and behaviors over the period from the last time i consciously acted on the THIRD STEP, and as a result, i inevitably find my surrender is lacking. i could use such findings to feed the part of me i call my addict, that part of me that wants me to use, or i can use the converse, all the times where i was in the surrender mode and living according to the spiritual principles i espouse, to feed the part of me that is in recovery.
what is my choice today? well i have been far from perfect in adherence to my desire to surrender MY WILL into the care of a POWER GREATER THAN ME, but i have been better at it than the last time i looked. and progress is what i need to measure, because progress not perfection is the standard that tells me that this recovery gig is worth all the time and effort that i put into it. and just for toady that is enough to reaffirm my decision to remain in recovery and do what is in front of me. so TATA for now!

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ—œ because of my ๐Ÿ”ฅ
449 words ➥ Friday, June 26, 2026 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ข my personal ๐Ÿ˜ข
436 words ➥ Thursday, June 26, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿš what did not ๐Ÿš
387 words ➥ Wednesday, June 26, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿคœ the theraputic ๐Ÿค›
292 words ➥ Monday, June 26, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ–– doing my part, ๐Ÿ––
483 words ➥ Sunday, June 26, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿด the more ๐Ÿณ
293 words ➥ Saturday, June 26, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ… fighting fear, ๐Ÿ…
630 words ➥ Friday, June 26, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿ covering all my bases ๐Ÿƒ
506 words ➥ Wednesday, June 26, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ’ my fears are ๐Ÿ’
627 words ➥ Tuesday, June 26, 2018 by donnot
๐Ÿณ driven primarily ๐Ÿณ
847 words ➥ Monday, June 26, 2017 by donnot
โ„ด surrendering โ„ด
586 words ➥ Sunday, June 26, 2016 by donnot
โ„‘ i no longer NEED to fight โ„‘
614 words ➥ Friday, June 26, 2015 by donnot
โˆซ surrender is the beginning of my new way of life โˆซ
441 words ➥ Thursday, June 26, 2014 by donnot
ยฑ by surrendering, acting on faith, and living my life ยฑ
147 words ➥ Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by donnot
รž my fears are lessened and my FAITH begins to grow, รž
655 words ➥ Saturday, June 26, 2010 by donnot
ฮด allowing surrender ฮด
294 words ➥ Sunday, June 26, 2005 by donnot
self-will
95 words ➥ Saturday, June 26, 2004 by donnot

Tao Te Ching

☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯

The Tao Teh King, or The Tao and Its Characteristics
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge

Book 2

1) Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong.
(So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth,
are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.