Blog entry for:
Tue, Jan 12, 2016 08:18:28 AM
♥ spiritual awakenings ♥
posted: Tue, Jan 12, 2016 08:18:28 AM
interestingly, the reading is about spiritual awakenings, and today is my first day on the 12TH STEP, more than a bit of synchronicity there, or could it be recovery-based quantum entanglement? no matter, what i do know, is that today, i am hopefully embarked on a journey that will last less than fourteen months this time, but as the adage goes, time will tell.
what i felt last night was a “lightness of being,” that i have felt in the past, but this time it was different. as i talked to my sponsor, i suddenly came to the conclusion that the length of time i spent on my 11TH step, was necessary for me. for me to come to an understanding that the abundance that i am offered by the POWER that fuels my recovery, is NOT material, but spiritual, took fourteen months to take that eighteen inch journey from my head to my heart. as such, one could say that is part of a the spiritual awakening, and i would agree. had i stopped any sooner, moved on through force of will, i am not sure that i would have received all the offerings the 11TH STEP was giving to me.
the drive home, was at first quite uneventful, as i drove with the flow of traffic, just being one, as it were, with the drivers around me. as i approached the last leg of my journey, a compact car zipped around me and the other vehicles that occupied the three lanes, in a hurry to get somewhere. that driver caused an accident about a quarter mile ahead of me, that left an SUV on its side, after it hit the center barrier. that driver chose to drive on, without considering the damage done as was gone. i had time enough to slow down and avoid causing any more damage, and i did not stop, as other had already done so. the incident shook me up though, it is not often that i am a witness to a traffic accident, but could not provide any details as to what i saw. as much as i try and be present for my life, i lacked the clarity to provide any details to help apprehend the driver of that car, and i see it as a metaphor about how my life can be out of control, when self-will takes over. no, the accident was not meant to give me a lesson, nor was it engineered just for me, but i took a lesson from it that did not present itself with any sort of clarity until this morning.
what i heard this morning, was that when i live my life, weaving and bobbing to get past the obstacles and people in my life, i can and often do cause damage. this “hit and run” mentality of living, is not something that happens frequently any more, but is certainly part of my repertoire. my journey to this 12TH step, has been slow, arduous and for some reason quite painstaking. the distance i put between myself and my peers, as i explored this path, has been removed. once again i can use terms such as GOD, loving and caring, without cringing, or better still without feeling that i have compromised my spiritual path. i needed that time to bridge the gap i created between the path i am set upon and what the path of many of my peers, seem to be on. more importantly i need that time to realize that as i become whole, the pieces may need lots of rearrangement, to fit into the new vision of who i am becoming.
all of that and more, is part of the wakening i have had as a result of this step cycle, and although there have been drum-rolls, thunderclaps or burning bushes along the way, i am certain that there has been more than one awakening, it is up to me to quantify those and turn them into a form that i can share with my peers, as suggested by the 12TH STEP. it is a great day to be clean and to be moving in a direction that provides me a path that allows me to recognize the abundance in my life.
what i felt last night was a “lightness of being,” that i have felt in the past, but this time it was different. as i talked to my sponsor, i suddenly came to the conclusion that the length of time i spent on my 11TH step, was necessary for me. for me to come to an understanding that the abundance that i am offered by the POWER that fuels my recovery, is NOT material, but spiritual, took fourteen months to take that eighteen inch journey from my head to my heart. as such, one could say that is part of a the spiritual awakening, and i would agree. had i stopped any sooner, moved on through force of will, i am not sure that i would have received all the offerings the 11TH STEP was giving to me.
the drive home, was at first quite uneventful, as i drove with the flow of traffic, just being one, as it were, with the drivers around me. as i approached the last leg of my journey, a compact car zipped around me and the other vehicles that occupied the three lanes, in a hurry to get somewhere. that driver caused an accident about a quarter mile ahead of me, that left an SUV on its side, after it hit the center barrier. that driver chose to drive on, without considering the damage done as was gone. i had time enough to slow down and avoid causing any more damage, and i did not stop, as other had already done so. the incident shook me up though, it is not often that i am a witness to a traffic accident, but could not provide any details as to what i saw. as much as i try and be present for my life, i lacked the clarity to provide any details to help apprehend the driver of that car, and i see it as a metaphor about how my life can be out of control, when self-will takes over. no, the accident was not meant to give me a lesson, nor was it engineered just for me, but i took a lesson from it that did not present itself with any sort of clarity until this morning.
what i heard this morning, was that when i live my life, weaving and bobbing to get past the obstacles and people in my life, i can and often do cause damage. this “hit and run” mentality of living, is not something that happens frequently any more, but is certainly part of my repertoire. my journey to this 12TH step, has been slow, arduous and for some reason quite painstaking. the distance i put between myself and my peers, as i explored this path, has been removed. once again i can use terms such as GOD, loving and caring, without cringing, or better still without feeling that i have compromised my spiritual path. i needed that time to bridge the gap i created between the path i am set upon and what the path of many of my peers, seem to be on. more importantly i need that time to realize that as i become whole, the pieces may need lots of rearrangement, to fit into the new vision of who i am becoming.
all of that and more, is part of the wakening i have had as a result of this step cycle, and although there have been drum-rolls, thunderclaps or burning bushes along the way, i am certain that there has been more than one awakening, it is up to me to quantify those and turn them into a form that i can share with my peers, as suggested by the 12TH STEP. it is a great day to be clean and to be moving in a direction that provides me a path that allows me to recognize the abundance in 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!
Spiritual awakenings 194 words ➥ Wednesday, January 12, 2005 by: redb1ker∞ spiritual awakenings ∞ 338 words ➥ Wednesday, January 12, 2005 by: donnot
∞ awakening to the spiritual life ∞ 682 words ➥ Thursday, January 12, 2006 by: donnot
∞ often, my spiritual awakening is something that grows stronger over time. ∞ 213 words ➥ Friday, January 12, 2007 by: donnot
α how will i know when i have had a spiritual awakening? ω 223 words ➥ Saturday, January 12, 2008 by: donnot
↔ i can strive for more spiritual awareness simply by living my life. ↔ 483 words ➥ Monday, January 12, 2009 by: donnot
γ reflecting on the spiritual awakenings i have experienced γ 401 words ➥ Tuesday, January 12, 2010 by: donnot
ℜ having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps ℜ 459 words ➥ Wednesday, January 12, 2011 by: donnot
♦ i will take time out in the day to appreciate ♦ 499 words ➥ Thursday, January 12, 2012 by: donnot
“ how will i know when i have had a spiritual awakening? ” 563 words ➥ Saturday, January 12, 2013 by: donnot
¢ i can take time to appreciate the world around me. ¢ 744 words ➥ Sunday, January 12, 2014 by: donnot
♦ i can listen within for the guidance i need ♦ 601 words ➥ Monday, January 12, 2015 by: donnot
☃ taking the time ❆ 804 words ➥ Thursday, January 12, 2017 by: donnot
🥓 having had 🤳 624 words ➥ Friday, January 12, 2018 by: donnot
¿ how will I know ? 656 words ➥ Saturday, January 12, 2019 by: donnot
🌋 a result 🌋 362 words ➥ Sunday, January 12, 2020 by: donnot
🙄 listening within 🙃 409 words ➥ Tuesday, January 12, 2021 by: donnot
😶 striving to 🤨 436 words ➥ Wednesday, January 12, 2022 by: donnot
🎐 appreciating 🎐 591 words ➥ Thursday, January 12, 2023 by: donnot
🌊 forgiveness 🌊 491 words ➥ Friday, January 12, 2024 by: donnot
☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 2
2) He diminishes it and again diminishes it, till he arrives at doing
nothing (on purpose). Having arrived at this point of non-action,
there is nothing which he does not do.