Blog entry for:
Sat, Feb 7, 2009 09:17:45 AM
α i came to recovery with the impression that the hardships of life are a series of cosmic tests ω
posted: Sat, Feb 7, 2009 09:17:45 AM
this is readily apparent when something traumatic happens and i wail, whine or generally gnash my teeth. but a loving Higher Power does not test my recovery, my character, or my faith. life just happens, and sometimes it hurts. okay although i rail against those who say this, today i am one of the chorus **i really like this reading!**
now that i have said the cliché that drive fVcking nuts, and screamed about it, well. maybe not screamed. but let out some sort of gas about my behavior i can release and go forward.
so why does someone like me, who does his best to not have emotional attachments to a passage that i read year after year, have such an attachment to this one? well, i could delve deep into psychobabble and such, or i could just pop out the first thing that comes to mind. honestly, no matter how hard i tried to be a rationalist and rid myself of all superstitious beliefs, before i came to recovery, there was this nagging doubt that mirrors this very belief. of course, i did my best to deny, swallow, disprove this tiny chink in my totally logical armor, and getting high certainly helped, because if that tiny little doubt could somehow be true, what else of the belief system i had so carefully constructed also be wrong. that was a question i never wanted answers about, and one more was all i needed to remove it from my conscious self.
so imagine my frustration that when i finally made a decision to give this way of life a whirl, and was told, cajoled, and generally had beat into my head, that everything i thought i knew was true, needed to be looked at and allowed to be revised.
YARGH!
so the comfort of this particular reading came and still continues to come from the fact that as part of that reexamination of my belief structure, not only did i get to discard the recent layers that had been slapped on the facade of what i grew up with, i also got to examine those beliefs i was indoctrinated into as part of my cultural upbringing.
that process is still ongoing today, because coming to believe has not nor does it appear to ever going to be an event. that process has morphed over time and i see that my current struggles with letting go of a particular outcome is part of that process. i am not being tested, nor am i being presented with some sort of dilemma that only the wisest of the wise could divine an answer to. no i am being given the opportunity to stand on my own two feet, and allow the FORCE that keeps me clean propel me into a new awareness of who and what i am, and it is only me that is blocking that process.
so secure in the knowledge that what i am going through, is self-inflicted, rather than some sort of divine joke, i think i will go pound the pavement and let go of what needs to be let go of this morning. it is after all a good day to recover and i think i will let the process happen.
now that i have said the cliché that drive fVcking nuts, and screamed about it, well. maybe not screamed. but let out some sort of gas about my behavior i can release and go forward.
so why does someone like me, who does his best to not have emotional attachments to a passage that i read year after year, have such an attachment to this one? well, i could delve deep into psychobabble and such, or i could just pop out the first thing that comes to mind. honestly, no matter how hard i tried to be a rationalist and rid myself of all superstitious beliefs, before i came to recovery, there was this nagging doubt that mirrors this very belief. of course, i did my best to deny, swallow, disprove this tiny chink in my totally logical armor, and getting high certainly helped, because if that tiny little doubt could somehow be true, what else of the belief system i had so carefully constructed also be wrong. that was a question i never wanted answers about, and one more was all i needed to remove it from my conscious self.
so imagine my frustration that when i finally made a decision to give this way of life a whirl, and was told, cajoled, and generally had beat into my head, that everything i thought i knew was true, needed to be looked at and allowed to be revised.
YARGH!
so the comfort of this particular reading came and still continues to come from the fact that as part of that reexamination of my belief structure, not only did i get to discard the recent layers that had been slapped on the facade of what i grew up with, i also got to examine those beliefs i was indoctrinated into as part of my cultural upbringing.
that process is still ongoing today, because coming to believe has not nor does it appear to ever going to be an event. that process has morphed over time and i see that my current struggles with letting go of a particular outcome is part of that process. i am not being tested, nor am i being presented with some sort of dilemma that only the wisest of the wise could divine an answer to. no i am being given the opportunity to stand on my own two feet, and allow the FORCE that keeps me clean propel me into a new awareness of who and what i am, and it is only me that is blocking that process.
so secure in the knowledge that what i am going through, is self-inflicted, rather than some sort of divine joke, i think i will go pound the pavement and let go of what needs to be let go of this morning. it is after all a good day to recover and i think i will let the process happen.
∞ 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!
↔ this is not a test ↔ 314 words ➥ Monday, February 7, 2005 by: donnot↔ life is... ↔ 402 words ➥ Tuesday, February 7, 2006 by: donnot
α the hardships of life are a series of cosmic tests designed to teach me something? ω 570 words ➥ Wednesday, February 7, 2007 by: donnot
μ life can be terribly painful at times, but the pain is not inflicted on me by my HIGHER POWER. μ 498 words ➥ Thursday, February 7, 2008 by: donnot
¿ the belief that the hardships of life are some sort of cosmic test ¿ 627 words ➥ Sunday, February 7, 2010 by: donnot
Α i have found a loving, personal HIGHER POWER, to whom i can turn Ω 855 words ➥ Monday, February 7, 2011 by: donnot
♥ there is no harm that life can do me ♥ 840 words ➥ Tuesday, February 7, 2012 by: donnot
• when something traumatic happens and i may be tempted to wail, • 396 words ➥ Thursday, February 7, 2013 by: donnot
♦ i will have faith that the will of the POWER ♦ 678 words ➥ Friday, February 7, 2014 by: donnot
¿ is it really a test of my character , 599 words ➥ Saturday, February 7, 2015 by: donnot
✠ this is ☮ 606 words ➥ Sunday, February 7, 2016 by: donnot
☯ life just happens, ☤ 672 words ➥ Tuesday, February 7, 2017 by: donnot
🌬 a series of 🌡 722 words ➥ Wednesday, February 7, 2018 by: donnot
😬 when something traumatic happens, 😭 576 words ➥ Thursday, February 7, 2019 by: donnot
🗣 testing, testing, 🗫 737 words ➥ Friday, February 7, 2020 by: donnot
💪 testing my recovery, 💀 444 words ➥ Sunday, February 7, 2021 by: donnot
🗹 a series 🗹 401 words ➥ Monday, February 7, 2022 by: donnot
🤕 not a test, 🤒 512 words ➥ Tuesday, February 7, 2023 by: donnot
🌬 recovery makes 🌀 542 words ➥ Wednesday, February 7, 2024 by: donnot
☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 1
2) So it is that existence and non-existence give birth the one to
(the idea of) the other; that difficulty and ease produce the one
(the idea of) the other; that length and shortness fashion out the
one the figure of the other; that (the ideas of) height and lowness
arise from the contrast of the one with the other; that the musical
notes and tones become harmonious through the relation of one with
another; and that being before and behind give the idea of one following
another.