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

ร i am becoming able to make wise and loving decisions โ€ฆ

Posted: Wed, Sep 1, 2010 08:17:25 AM

based on the principles and ideals that have real value in my life. i understand that the reading was about replacing the values i had when i was in active addiction with the values i have adopted along the road of recovery. yes i could comment long and hard, going down that track, and i would make the generals so proud of how i could parrot the party line, like i have in the past. honestly, the party line is true for me. as i work a program of active recovery the behaviors that once were so dominate in my life, based on the lies i told myself are being diminished. i am becoming a person who lives a value and ideal based life. so there you have it, i can stop, grab a shower and get some work done, but wait there is more…

FIRST OFF.
10 years clean SWEETIE, AWESOME!
KATHY Mc you fill my life and complete me.
THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOU DO

…and still more. as the title of this blog seems to hint at, what struck me this morning was not the mundane value and ideal replacement cycles that recovery has wrought in my life, no what i heard when i could slow down enough to listen was that how my decision-making process has been altered by that value replacement cycle.
that process, while important and a necessary ingredient in what seems to be a deeper understanding of what recovery is doing to me, has to have evidence of improving my life, or else i will quit it. i have always been like that. yes i know immediate gratification is part of the addict within. i also realize that the whole evidence based FAITH gig, goes directly to that part of me. so that begs the question, am i making better decisions and if so why? to answer such a question i would have to take a quick inventory of the decisions i have made. i make what seems like an infinite number of decisions on a daily basis, although i am certain that the number is quite finite. anyhow, most of that vast number happen without me even realizing it, after all, just driving an automobile involves decision after decision that are based on experience and reaction rather than any deep though process. so those i can mostly ignore. i say mostly, because there are some automatic decisions, decisions i have made for years without thinking about them, first and foremost was the automatic manner in which i decided to use, back in the day. that has been mostly replaced by the automatic decision to stay clean, no matter what. if i stopped there, i could certainly say that my decision-making process has been improved by value replacement. as i look over the decisions i made yesterday, for the most part most of them were neither negative or positive for me, they just were. i made some bad decisions yesterday, and yes i even rationalized (lied to myself) about them to make me feel better. i made some very good decisions yesterday, and those needed no explanation. anyhow, as i ponder the question i see that the manner in which i make decisions today is better and without a doubt more conducive to a positive direction to my life in general.
so on that note, i do believe that i can now decide to hop in the shower and get cracking on the projects i need to complete today. it is after all a good day to make the best decions i can make.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐ŸŽ“ learning the ๐ŸŽ“
672 words ➥ Tuesday, September 1, 2026 by donnot
โฅฉ healthy relationships โฅฉ
394 words ➥ Monday, September 1, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ฌ growing secure ๐Ÿ˜Œ
396 words ➥ Sunday, September 1, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ˆ interdependence ๐Ÿ˜‡
509 words ➥ Friday, September 1, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿค” making wiser ๐Ÿค—
447 words ➥ Thursday, September 1, 2022 by donnot
๐ŸŒŸ the world ๐ŸŒŸ
375 words ➥ Wednesday, September 1, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ›  deeper and deeper ๐Ÿ›ก
397 words ➥ Tuesday, September 1, 2020 by donnot
โˆต principles and ideals, โˆด
509 words ➥ Sunday, September 1, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿจ on being restored ๐Ÿซ
324 words ➥ Saturday, September 1, 2018 by donnot
๐Ÿ†“ the kind of values ๐Ÿ†’
642 words ➥ Friday, September 1, 2017 by donnot
โ‰ฌ accept responsibility โ‰ฌ
629 words ➥ Thursday, September 1, 2016 by donnot
โˆด real values โˆด
478 words ➥ Tuesday, September 1, 2015 by donnot
โ™  rather than digging me deeper into a grave, โ™ 
671 words ➥ Monday, September 1, 2014 by donnot
โ‡” i am becoming able to make wise and loving decisions โ‡”
707 words ➥ Sunday, September 1, 2013 by donnot
โ‡” i am thankful for the ability my newly uncovered values give me โ‡”
547 words ➥ Saturday, September 1, 2012 by donnot
ยฅ the Twelve Steps give me a strong dose of real values ยฅ
436 words ➥ Thursday, September 1, 2011 by donnot
โˆž i learn to be honest, no matter what and โˆž
238 words ➥ Tuesday, September 1, 2009 by donnot
โˆž values โˆž
58 words ➥ Thursday, September 1, 2005 by donnot
values (or lack thereof)
237 words ➥ Wednesday, September 1, 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 1

He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm; he who stretches
his legs does not walk (easily). (So), he who displays himself does
not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who
vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-
conceited has no superiority allowed to him. Such conditions, viewed
from the standpoint of the Tao, are like remnants of food, or a tumour
on the body, which all dislike. Hence those who pursue (the course)
of the Tao do not adopt and allow them.