I have been clean for:
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Surrender meme Work the steps meme

๐ŸŒ„ willing to do ๐ŸŒ„

Posted: Sun, Jun 2, 2019 06:39:40 AM

what is truly necessary to remove the source of pain from my life? it would be nice to say that i take direction from my peers and reach this state of mind, when the suggest that something may be **off** in how i am living day-to-day. it would certainly be nice when it feels like me against the whole f*cking world, to get a clue that maybe it is me that needs to change and not everyone and everything else in my life. yes, all of that would be so nice, but reality rarely follows that fantasy and i have to beat up from the floor up, before i get to the point of becoming willing enough to do any sort of work on myself. as i sat, way too early on this late spring Sunday morning, the echoes of what i have not been doing until the past seventy-two hours or so, were overwhelming. i may not have finished my THIRD STEP, but at least now i am willing to step off the ledge with a bit of FAITH and make the decision i have faked making for so long. today, i am willing to decide to surrender my will and my life into the care of the POWER that fuels my recovery, even though i am not sure that i will actually be cared for, by that POWER.
my life in recovery has followed that pattern since the day i walked into my first meeting: pretending that i am something i am not, until the pain becomes unbearable, or my FEAR of my fraud being revealed becomes overwhelming. as sick as that sounds, it was sufficient to keep me clean to now. sufficiency is not what i desire any longer and as i move into actually doing a bit of step writing i saw that it was not FEAR that motivated me, it was the pain. no, what i DESIRE these days is an ease of living that i have only discovered through living a program of active recovery. it is true that i do the daily maintenance gig, on a daily basis, i am not some sort of idiot and when something works, i make it a habit. as much as i hate to admit i am a creature of habit, that is who i am and apparently who i will be, at least in the here and now. i can be at peace with that notion and move along into where i need to go and be present for those i need to see, as i step out into the real world and see what i can get done today.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ˜• despite how ๐Ÿ˜•
552 words ➥ Tuesday, June 2, 2026 by donnot
๐Ÿ•› taking the time ๐Ÿ•ฆ
453 words ➥ Monday, June 2, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿ” the ability to ๐Ÿ–
496 words ➥ Sunday, June 2, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿ’™ learning ๐Ÿ’™
435 words ➥ Friday, June 2, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ก no matter what ๐Ÿคฌ
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๐Ÿ˜ณ the absence ๐Ÿฅบ
278 words ➥ Wednesday, June 2, 2021 by donnot
๐ŸŽ† something different ๐ŸŽ†
565 words ➥ Tuesday, June 2, 2020 by donnot
๐ŸŒ‰ an easy way out. ๐ŸŒ‰
467 words ➥ Saturday, June 2, 2018 by donnot
โ˜ž looking for the โ˜›
755 words ➥ Friday, June 2, 2017 by donnot
โ˜ค a change โ˜ค
247 words ➥ Thursday, June 2, 2016 by donnot
ยค sick and tired ยค
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ฮ” only when i cannot bear the pain of ฮ”
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โ„œ as i apply the steps to my life, โ„œ
433 words ➥ Sunday, June 2, 2013 by donnot
ฦ’ no matter what prevents me from living a full, happy life ฦ’
557 words ➥ Saturday, June 2, 2012 by donnot
โˆซ i wanted an easy way out and when i did seek help โˆซ
396 words ➥ Thursday, June 2, 2011 by donnot
โˆž sick and tired of being tired and sick? โˆž
385 words ➥ Friday, June 2, 2006 by donnot
โˆž process of change โˆž
232 words ➥ Thursday, June 2, 2005 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

2) The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying
a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless
and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence.
I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and
forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have
enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind
is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. Ordinary men look
bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look
full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem
to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to
rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull
and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from
other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).