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

โ™ฅ my self-destructive behavior usually went โ™ฅ

Posted: Mon, Aug 27, 2012 08:33:26 AM

far deeper than just using, as a result my recovery is much more than simple abstinence.
so once upon a time in a land that feels far far away in a time that feels like a long,long time ago, i came to the rooms of recovery seeking a solution to my legal problems. my dilemma was simply this: they did not want me to use, and i did not want to stop. the escalating consequences of this battle were about to rain down on me, and i wanted instant relief, so the only port in my personal storm appeared to be a path of abstinence for long enough to solve my real problem, the 20th judicial district being on my back. that land was 8th and main here in my home town and that time was just 15 years ago. i did not know it then, but i was within the last two weeks of using, had i known it, i probably would have gone out in a blaze of glory instead of the whimper that was me, doing my best too use and get away with it. i did not even mind being on antabuse at the time, as even though i was attending meetings in the 12 step fellowship that dealt with alcohol, booze was always near the bottom of my preferred ways to alter my consciousness.
back in THAT day, it was all about not using for eighteen months, no matter how much i wanted to, BECAUSE i did not want to become a ward of the state. i had already been a ward of the county and they were getting ready to wash their hands of me and the the chaos that was my stay in the probation department.
ah those simple days of just staying clean no matter what. as hellish as they were, they are no comparison to what has transpired since. what i thought was safely locked in the vault of time, continues to haunt me today. and each time i did deeper through the process of the steps, i get that much closer to the truth of who i am. that man, really could not deal with what he locked into the vaults, and now that i have some time and recovery under my belt, looking at how this makes me tick decades later, is more than a bit interesting. as i face these issues in the here and now, it is no longer any wonder why i used. mind-numbing use of substances was the ONLY way that i could keep all of the garbage i have kept in those vaults locked away and in suspended animation, with just enough slime oozing out to make using all that more appealing. that leakage, kept me sick and in active addiction, so the program of active recovery means to me, that i MUST face all of that garbage and give what belongs to others to them and let go of the stuff that has kept me down for so long.
this morning, i am now looking forward to my SIXTH STEP as ugly as it may be, because i know that in my heart it is time to start to become entirely ready to let go of the garbage that is preventing me form being the person i have always wanted to be. which includes more fit and less fat, so with an empty head and a strong desire it is a quick trot around the neighborhood for me this morning. oh yeah, your stuff is your stuff and i am gratefully giving it back to you, as i no longer need to carry it!

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿคจ step work, ๐Ÿคซ
700 words ➥ Thursday, August 27, 2026 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜Ÿ learning to exercise ๐Ÿ˜ฒ
462 words ➥ Wednesday, August 27, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ sound judgment ๐Ÿ˜
489 words ➥ Tuesday, August 27, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿค” discernment ๐Ÿค
422 words ➥ Sunday, August 27, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘บ taking care ๐Ÿ‘ผ
517 words ➥ Saturday, August 27, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜Ž changing the ๐Ÿ˜•
506 words ➥ Friday, August 27, 2021 by donnot
๐ŸŒ€ far deeper ๐ŸŒ€
557 words ➥ Thursday, August 27, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿ•ฑ courting death ๐Ÿ•ฑ
547 words ➥ Tuesday, August 27, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ’€ the self-destructive patterns ๐Ÿœ
690 words ➥ Monday, August 27, 2018 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘ฃ my journey into life ๐Ÿพ
697 words ➥ Sunday, August 27, 2017 by donnot
๐ŸŒธ my life in active addition, ๐ŸŒบ
704 words ➥ Saturday, August 27, 2016 by donnot
โˆซ choosing to live โˆซ
703 words ➥ Thursday, August 27, 2015 by donnot
ฦ’ i decide each day that i want to live and be free ฦ’
587 words ➥ Wednesday, August 27, 2014 by donnot
โˆ€ each time i avoid self-destructive behavior, โˆ€
598 words ➥ Tuesday, August 27, 2013 by donnot
ยฑ active addiction is a smoldering death-wish ยฑ
445 words ➥ Thursday, August 27, 2009 by donnot
โˆž choosing recovery means choosing life. โˆž
584 words ➥ Wednesday, August 27, 2008 by donnot
โ†” weed, whites and wine โ†”
374 words ➥ Saturday, August 27, 2005 by donnot
choosing life
194 words ➥ Friday, August 27, 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

4) Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and
does not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men)
do not learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed
by. Thus he helps the natural development of all things, and does
not dare to act (with an ulterior purpose of his own).