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

โˆž my motives are often a surprise to me, even after a bit of time clean! โˆž

Posted: Wed, Dec 17, 2008 08:33:45 AM

i have learned to check my motives through prayer, meditation, the steps, and talking to my sponsor or other addicts. i have also discovered that sometimes the direction i receive is colored by their motives. as a consequence, it means getting direction from more than one source. the exception to querying others, is the direction that i get from my sponsor. it seems, that all of the men who have sponsored me across the course of my recovery, have never failed to provide exactly the kind of direction i needed right then and there. their insight into my motives, in service and in life in general, were without exception spot on. i, however, participated in a behavior that i developed in childhood and until recently still engaged in. when i did not care for the direction i was getting, i sought out the answers i wanted elsewhere. yes it was the playing mom against dad behavior. in fact, i even went to "mom" before "dad" on some particularly sticky wickets that i found myself in the middle of, and was clueless about how to resolve them. most of the time, what i got was exactly what i wanted, namely direction and ending with the phrase, " and of course this can stay between you and i, i do not believe your sponsor would quite understand this."
permission to be less than hones, coming from members with clean time, exactly what i desired then and there, and the amazing part is, that i did not have to use, for this was direction that could have killed me. io know what my motives were then, and today i have a better grasp of my motives in all phases of my recovery.
NOTE -- better grasp, far from complete or perfect knowledge --
be that as it may, the less than perfect grasp i have, and asking for and receiving direction from my sponsor, has sent the direction of my service into an entirely new direction, one that i am clueless about the outcome of, but one that i have FAITH that the result can be exactly as it is supposed to be. as my sponsor reminds me, focusing on the process, and allowing the outcome to what it is, is where i need to be today.
so anyhow, the time has come to saddle up the running clothes and go brave the frigid tundra, i will close by stating i am grateful i got way with playing one authority against another for as long as i did, because it has taught me, that what i know is right, is usually right. it is up to me, to have the FAITH that the men i ask to sponsor me, are connected to my HIGHER POWER, and will provide me with what i need, when i need it, if i CHOOSE to ask, including the means to check my motives.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ‘ patience is ๐Ÿ‘Œ
351 words ➥ Wednesday, December 17, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿค making the ๐Ÿค
469 words ➥ Tuesday, December 17, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜‘ patience ๐Ÿ˜‘
359 words ➥ Sunday, December 17, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿค” the desire ๐Ÿค
425 words ➥ Saturday, December 17, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿฆš game-playing, ๐Ÿฆš
464 words ➥ Friday, December 17, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ—ฆ an unselfish desire ๐Ÿ—ง
316 words ➥ Thursday, December 17, 2020 by donnot
โœ“ checking my motives โœ”
692 words ➥ Tuesday, December 17, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘ what i really want ๐Ÿ‘
595 words ➥ Monday, December 17, 2018 by donnot
๐ŸŒŠ motivated by the DESIRE ๐ŸŒŒ
785 words ➥ Sunday, December 17, 2017 by donnot
๐ŸŒŽ the true sprint of service ๐ŸŒŽ
489 words ➥ Saturday, December 17, 2016 by donnot
โ˜€ service motives โ˜
445 words ➥ Thursday, December 17, 2015 by donnot
ฦ’ however, an unselfish desire to serve others ฦ’
479 words ➥ Tuesday, December 17, 2013 by donnot
ยซ it is particularly important to check my motives ยป
579 words ➥ Monday, December 17, 2012 by donnot
โ‰… i will check my motives for the true spirit of service โ‰…
465 words ➥ Saturday, December 17, 2011 by donnot
โˆž motive check?reality check! โˆž
284 words ➥ Saturday, December 17, 2005 by donnot
โ†” service work and motives โ†”
232 words ➥ Friday, December 17, 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

3) Thus it is that dignity finds its (firm) root in its (previous)
meanness, and what is lofty finds its stability in the lowness (from
which it rises). Hence princes and kings call themselves 'Orphans,'
'Men of small virtue,' and as 'Carriages without a nave.' Is not this
an acknowledgment that in their considering themselves mean they see
the foundation of their dignity? So it is that in the enumeration
of the different parts of a carriage we do not come on what makes
it answer the ends of a carriage. They do not wish to show themselves
elegant-looking as jade, but (prefer) to be coarse-looking as an (ordinary)
stone.