Blog entry for:
Mon, Feb 16, 2015 07:29:49 AM
⁄ i often end up looking for a way to avoid ⁄
posted: Mon, Feb 16, 2015 07:29:49 AM
my feelings instead of simply acknowledging that those feelings are painful. there are days when i find all that happens, exactly to my liking. recovery is certainly easy on those days, and like some of my peers, i could attribute those days to a loving, kind and benevolent GOD. there are days when everything goes wrong, from the tiniest of things to the ginormous, on those days i could hear myself wailing about the unfairness of it all, and wonder if i am being tested or punished by a capricious GOD, top see if i am worthy to have my next “good day.”
that sort of pendulum swing of a POWER that is the root and the source of my recovery, is not a healthy one for me. part of the reason i have moved away from attributing human characteristics to my vision of a HIGHER POWER, is to remove that sort of thought process from my head.
LIFE IS.
now there are days when i think life is great, just because nothing unpleasant happens and almost everything goes my way. that is me, casting a value judgement on the events, in toto, of that day. those days are mostly a product of me, staying clean, being present for what is happening and living an active program of recovery, not just paying lip service to those values. those days also occurred when i was in active addiction, as well in my darkest times in recovery, and in both of those instances, i missed them. the former because i was too busy trying to score my next set of feelings and the latter because i was self-obsessed and self-absorbed trying to look like a spiritual and recovery guru, to enjoy what was happening in the here and now.
there are also days when everything is wrong, disaster after disaster pile upon my plate and i want just want to crawl back into bed and get away from it all. those days also occurred in my active using and early recovery, and in both of those cases, my coping mechanism was to find something to change the way i was feeling, and BOOM a bad day was not nearly so bad.
today? well today, most days are a mixed lot, and it is what i do with the experiences that matters. when i detached from needing to put a value judgement on everything that happened and everything that i felt, most days just are, and life is much easier for me. i know that today, regardless of what may or may not happen, that my FAITH in the program and the direction i am going, will keep me clean. i know that i am not part of some cosmic practical joke and there are probably not higher powers of any sort, wagering on whether or not i will survive the test that are put in front of me. chances are i am not a rat in some maze, running for my next food pellet, drink of water or electrical shock, and to believe any variant of that, is an abhorrent notion to me. my idea of a HIGHER POWER may not include benevolence, but it certainly does not include malevolence either. so with that in mind, i will start the process to get to work and earn my daily keep. it is a good day to be clean and perhaps it will be a day when much more will be revealed.
that sort of pendulum swing of a POWER that is the root and the source of my recovery, is not a healthy one for me. part of the reason i have moved away from attributing human characteristics to my vision of a HIGHER POWER, is to remove that sort of thought process from my head.
LIFE IS.
now there are days when i think life is great, just because nothing unpleasant happens and almost everything goes my way. that is me, casting a value judgement on the events, in toto, of that day. those days are mostly a product of me, staying clean, being present for what is happening and living an active program of recovery, not just paying lip service to those values. those days also occurred when i was in active addiction, as well in my darkest times in recovery, and in both of those instances, i missed them. the former because i was too busy trying to score my next set of feelings and the latter because i was self-obsessed and self-absorbed trying to look like a spiritual and recovery guru, to enjoy what was happening in the here and now.
there are also days when everything is wrong, disaster after disaster pile upon my plate and i want just want to crawl back into bed and get away from it all. those days also occurred in my active using and early recovery, and in both of those cases, my coping mechanism was to find something to change the way i was feeling, and BOOM a bad day was not nearly so bad.
today? well today, most days are a mixed lot, and it is what i do with the experiences that matters. when i detached from needing to put a value judgement on everything that happened and everything that i felt, most days just are, and life is much easier for me. i know that today, regardless of what may or may not happen, that my FAITH in the program and the direction i am going, will keep me clean. i know that i am not part of some cosmic practical joke and there are probably not higher powers of any sort, wagering on whether or not i will survive the test that are put in front of me. chances are i am not a rat in some maze, running for my next food pellet, drink of water or electrical shock, and to believe any variant of that, is an abhorrent notion to me. my idea of a HIGHER POWER may not include benevolence, but it certainly does not include malevolence either. so with that in mind, i will start the process to get to work and earn my daily keep. it is a good day to be clean and perhaps it will be a day when much more will be revealed.
∞ 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!
∞ practicing trust and faith ∞ 257 words ➥ Wednesday, February 16, 2005 by: donnotα accepting the reality of today α 494 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2006 by: donnot
∞ some days just are not the way i wish they would be ∞ 185 words ➥ Friday, February 16, 2007 by: donnot
μ no one promised me that everything will go my way when i stopped using. μ 528 words ➥ Saturday, February 16, 2008 by: donnot
Σ i will not die nor will the world end, just because i have uncomfortable feelings Σ 738 words ➥ Monday, February 16, 2009 by: donnot
δ i can face good days and bad days, δ 287 words ➥ Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by: donnot
℘ when i refuse to accept the reality of today, ℘ 841 words ➥ Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by: donnot
— i can experience pain, grief, sadness, anger, frustration — 452 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2012 by: donnot
« i will demonstrate my trust in the POWER that fuels my recovery, » 374 words ➥ Saturday, February 16, 2013 by: donnot
∗ in fact, i can be sure that life will ∗ 722 words ➥ Sunday, February 16, 2014 by: donnot
↣ faithful feelings ↢ 537 words ➥ Tuesday, February 16, 2016 by: donnot
🌊 i no longer 🌈 637 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2017 by: donnot
🍀 feelings, 🌶 722 words ➥ Friday, February 16, 2018 by: donnot
🌄 experiencing this day 🌇 499 words ➥ Saturday, February 16, 2019 by: donnot
😯 the reality of today, 😵 476 words ➥ Sunday, February 16, 2020 by: donnot
😖 the world 😟 434 words ➥ Tuesday, February 16, 2021 by: donnot
😭 some days 😧 483 words ➥ Wednesday, February 16, 2022 by: donnot
😕 pain, grief 😖 544 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2023 by: donnot
🌈 service and 🌈 430 words ➥ Friday, February 16, 2024 by: donnot
☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 2
2) The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the
tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey
of a thousand li commenced with a single step.