Blog entry for:
Mon, May 26, 2014 09:24:37 AM
∑ it does not matter if i call it God, ∑
posted: Mon, May 26, 2014 09:24:37 AM
a Higher Power, or anything else — just as long as i find a way to incorporate that Power into my daily life.
so as i sit here this morning, on the bright and shiny Monday morning, wondering about how to fill my day off, i think back to my dissatisfaction with the meeting last night. if that is my HIGHER POWER i am certainly fVcked, based on what i “heard” there last night. my peers, and what they shared, was the focus of my TENTH STEP last night, or rather my intolerance for what they shared, was the focus. it is more than ironic, that the reading is about GOD in and as the GROUP. kind makes my head spin as i try and reconcile what i am feeling, what i judged to be happening, and more importantly where i am going in my recovery journey.
it is true, that i am going to probably have an emotional reaction when someone with five months clean, starts preaching to the “newcomers,” especially when that someone is so whacked out on painkillers that they cannot even keep their jaw from hanging open. i certainly have more than an issue or two about another of my peers, telling me HOW i SHOULD do this recovery thing, when they have yet to complete a single set of TWELVE. as i shared a few weeks ago, in my own home group, it really is NOT their problem, it is mine. i know better than to ask the POWER that fuels my recovery for tolerance. i also am loathe to take a vacation from meetings and i KNOW that what i am hearing is the same everywhere i go, so a geographic meeting change, will still carry the judgmental and intolerant as$$hole that is me, right along, and i am certain i will find more than one thing to hate there as well. so where the fVck does that leave me?
right back at the top, that's where!
starting with the premise that the group is part and parcel of the POWER that fuels my recovery, means that the voice of the group as a whole, must be that POWER speaking to me. the dissonant voices, or at least those i judge to be dissonant are part of that whole, so must also be carrying a message that i am not hearing. am i placing too much power on the messenger and missing the message, because i tune out the second i hear my name is… which would not be a terrible alternative, instead of hearing what they are saying and shredding it to teeny-tiny bits, just because of who they are, and not necessarily what it is they are trying to say. what is it about them, or better put, about me, that causes such a strong revulsion. is it envy and jealousy, because i cannot get away with using and tripping in and out of the rooms of recovery? or maybe because they happen to have a life with no responsibilities and full of entitlements. that certainly is an interesting path for me to explore. jealousy and envy, are just feeling, neither good nor bad, for me they arise out of a couple character defects, my lack of humility being the foremost. when i start comparing and stratifying the world around me, i am always better or worse than someone else, and in this case it certainly is a worse than. i am not worth sharing, because i think i have nothing to add, and they share on and on about their lives, when in my opinion they have nothing to offer. kind of a sick and twisted path into the heart of darkness. the solution, is to allow the POWER that fuels my recovery to speak to me through the group and the meetings i attend, because i am coming to believe that in my case, that is how this gig just works. when the judge, raises his gavel to bring court into session, i can acknowledge that and ask for the power, from the POWER that fuels my recovery, to shut the fVck and listen, and maybe, just maybe if i let go and do that, i will have something to offer from my own Experience, Strength and Hope. believing that somehow, they will miraculously change into paragons of recovery, is no different than believing in Santa God, or the Easter Bunny, beings that lots of people talk about, but no one has yet to see. no the miracle here, will need to happen to me and perhaps this is the start of my process to return to the POWER of the GROUP and accept it oncve again into my life.
so as i sit here this morning, on the bright and shiny Monday morning, wondering about how to fill my day off, i think back to my dissatisfaction with the meeting last night. if that is my HIGHER POWER i am certainly fVcked, based on what i “heard” there last night. my peers, and what they shared, was the focus of my TENTH STEP last night, or rather my intolerance for what they shared, was the focus. it is more than ironic, that the reading is about GOD in and as the GROUP. kind makes my head spin as i try and reconcile what i am feeling, what i judged to be happening, and more importantly where i am going in my recovery journey.
it is true, that i am going to probably have an emotional reaction when someone with five months clean, starts preaching to the “newcomers,” especially when that someone is so whacked out on painkillers that they cannot even keep their jaw from hanging open. i certainly have more than an issue or two about another of my peers, telling me HOW i SHOULD do this recovery thing, when they have yet to complete a single set of TWELVE. as i shared a few weeks ago, in my own home group, it really is NOT their problem, it is mine. i know better than to ask the POWER that fuels my recovery for tolerance. i also am loathe to take a vacation from meetings and i KNOW that what i am hearing is the same everywhere i go, so a geographic meeting change, will still carry the judgmental and intolerant as$$hole that is me, right along, and i am certain i will find more than one thing to hate there as well. so where the fVck does that leave me?
right back at the top, that's where!
starting with the premise that the group is part and parcel of the POWER that fuels my recovery, means that the voice of the group as a whole, must be that POWER speaking to me. the dissonant voices, or at least those i judge to be dissonant are part of that whole, so must also be carrying a message that i am not hearing. am i placing too much power on the messenger and missing the message, because i tune out the second i hear my name is… which would not be a terrible alternative, instead of hearing what they are saying and shredding it to teeny-tiny bits, just because of who they are, and not necessarily what it is they are trying to say. what is it about them, or better put, about me, that causes such a strong revulsion. is it envy and jealousy, because i cannot get away with using and tripping in and out of the rooms of recovery? or maybe because they happen to have a life with no responsibilities and full of entitlements. that certainly is an interesting path for me to explore. jealousy and envy, are just feeling, neither good nor bad, for me they arise out of a couple character defects, my lack of humility being the foremost. when i start comparing and stratifying the world around me, i am always better or worse than someone else, and in this case it certainly is a worse than. i am not worth sharing, because i think i have nothing to add, and they share on and on about their lives, when in my opinion they have nothing to offer. kind of a sick and twisted path into the heart of darkness. the solution, is to allow the POWER that fuels my recovery to speak to me through the group and the meetings i attend, because i am coming to believe that in my case, that is how this gig just works. when the judge, raises his gavel to bring court into session, i can acknowledge that and ask for the power, from the POWER that fuels my recovery, to shut the fVck and listen, and maybe, just maybe if i let go and do that, i will have something to offer from my own Experience, Strength and Hope. believing that somehow, they will miraculously change into paragons of recovery, is no different than believing in Santa God, or the Easter Bunny, beings that lots of people talk about, but no one has yet to see. no the miracle here, will need to happen to me and perhaps this is the start of my process to return to the POWER of the GROUP and accept it oncve again into my life.
∞ 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!
↔ opening my eyes, my heart and my mind ↔ 260 words ➥ Thursday, May 26, 2005 by: donnot∞ looking for a bit of evidence ∞ 289 words ➥ Friday, May 26, 2006 by: donnot
α the first practical exposure many of i had to a Higher Power is in the group. Ω 541 words ➥ Saturday, May 26, 2007 by: donnot
α the fact that addicts keep coming to meetings, day after day, ω 345 words ➥ Monday, May 26, 2008 by: donnot
α when i look around with an open mind, i will be able to identify signs of a HIGHER POWER ω 482 words ➥ Tuesday, May 26, 2009 by: donnot
… when i fully accept the depth of my own powerlessness over addiction … 502 words ➥ Wednesday, May 26, 2010 by: donnot
∫ my understanding of a Higher Power is up to me ∫ 812 words ➥ Thursday, May 26, 2011 by: donnot
— i can and will open my mind to THE POWER that is the group — 405 words ➥ Saturday, May 26, 2012 by: donnot
∧ i have a hard time with the idea of a Higher Power ∧ 786 words ➥ Sunday, May 26, 2013 by: donnot
α seeking the help α 774 words ➥ Tuesday, May 26, 2015 by: donnot
≍ the POWER ≍ 492 words ➥ Thursday, May 26, 2016 by: donnot
🎈 without 🎉 321 words ➥ Friday, May 26, 2017 by: donnot
👻 fully accepting 🐬 564 words ➥ Saturday, May 26, 2018 by: donnot
💨 finding the ways 💨 670 words ➥ Sunday, May 26, 2019 by: donnot
🍒 practical knowledge 🍒 707 words ➥ Tuesday, May 26, 2020 by: donnot
🌬 incorporating a 🌬 550 words ➥ Wednesday, May 26, 2021 by: donnot
🧿 an attractive, 🧲 533 words ➥ Thursday, May 26, 2022 by: donnot
🤷 forgiveness, 🤷 481 words ➥ Friday, May 26, 2023 by: donnot
😒 finding self-acceptance 😌 520 words ➥ Sunday, May 26, 2024 by: donnot
☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 2
3) Their court(-yards and buildings) shall be well kept, but their
fields shall be ill-cultivated, and their granaries very empty. They
shall wear elegant and ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their
girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance
of property and wealth;--such (princes) may be called robbers and
boasters. This is contrary to the Tao surely!