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

๐Ÿ’ฑ willing ๐Ÿ’ธ

Posted: Thu, Oct 10, 2019 07:31:19 AM

to pay the price, or am i really? yesterday afternoon i marched into the local municipal courthouse to pay a fine for speeding. it is not like i have a couple of hundred dollars just sitting around to donate to the city for enforcing their “revenue enhancement zones.” i was not thrilled about having to go through metal detector and leaving my cell phone behind to visit the counter, either. all in all, not my most desirable afternoon, by far and yet, as i find myself on that particular stretch of roadway, i notice i am still exceeding the artificially posted speed limit. it seems to me that i am willing to pay for the privilege of gaining two minutes on my way to here and there, when in reality i am not. although the reading speaks of acting on impulse, this behavior, at least for me, is not impulse. it is habitual and will take a bit on concerted effort to correct. on my scales of cost vs gain, is a few minutes really worth points against my driver's license and hundreds of dollars of fines?
as i sat in the meeting last night, listening to what was being shared, i once again, chose not to bring in my $0.02. every time i started to open my mouth,m i asked myself if what i was going to share a response or reaction to what i heard or was it truly what was on my heart. it was odd that the one thing i latched on to was the fact that someone admitted they shared because they “needed” the attention and acceptance of our peers. they shared because they enjoyed the reaction and when they did not get what they wanted, they got resentful. i certainly know why i grabbed that little bon mot, it is what i am looking for when i go into my “shock and awe” mode. i am not sharing what i feel, in that case, but what i think will bring me accolades and praise when the meeting is over. i want to impress and screw the consequences of keeping what is really going on with me, on the inside. that is a whole lot of bad behavior wrapped up in spiritual camouflage, and the true price to pay is not derision from my peers, but a lessening of my worth in my own eyes. i am worth more today than “playing to the crowd.” of course there was a whole lot more i could expound on about what was and was not shared last night, the price of dragging their stuff into my world, is one i am not willing to pay this morning.
today, as i prepare to enter the real world and get behind the wheel of my car, i can see that if i want to be truly equal with all those i share this world with, i need to get some direction from the POWER that fuels my recovery. i can continue to run their words and deeds through the filter of my expectations and finds them lacking every single time, allowing myself to “feel a bit more than.” i can rationalize that behavior away by a quick little “at least i am not…” the prize may be a boost of esteem but i will pay the price in reduced self-worth. today i can be batter than that, just for today.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ˜Ž finding an abundance ๐Ÿ˜Ž
349 words ➥ Saturday, October 10, 2026 by donnot
๐Ÿ”ฎ seeking out ๐Ÿ”ฌ
336 words ➥ Friday, October 10, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿ™ƒ isolation and alienation ๐Ÿ™‚
434 words ➥ Thursday, October 10, 2024 by donnot
๐ŸŒŸ connected ๐ŸŒŸ
503 words ➥ Tuesday, October 10, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿคฏ but there ๐Ÿคฏ
470 words ➥ Monday, October 10, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ before i ๐Ÿ™ƒ
538 words ➥ Sunday, October 10, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ˆ living in ignorance ๐Ÿ˜‡
505 words ➥ Saturday, October 10, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿง  guided by impulse ๐Ÿฅ€
645 words ➥ Wednesday, October 10, 2018 by donnot
๐ŸŒŒ a prize ๐ŸŒŒ
454 words ➥ Tuesday, October 10, 2017 by donnot
$ there is $
458 words ➥ Monday, October 10, 2016 by donnot
โ‡‘ consequences โ‡“
523 words ➥ Saturday, October 10, 2015 by donnot
โ€ก it is said that there are consequences to every action .
742 words ➥ Friday, October 10, 2014 by donnot
โ„ต have i ever thought about how much it was going to hurt โ„ต
647 words ➥ Thursday, October 10, 2013 by donnot
โ€  have i ever been tempted to do something โ€ 
723 words ➥ Wednesday, October 10, 2012 by donnot
หœ before i got clean, i simply did not believe หœ
728 words ➥ Monday, October 10, 2011 by donnot
ร— no longer can i decide to do something in ignorance ร—
509 words ➥ Sunday, October 10, 2010 by donnot
ยซ before i got clean, most of my actions were guided by impulse ยป
584 words ➥ Saturday, October 10, 2009 by donnot
โˆž it is okay to act despite the consequences if i am willing โ€ฆ
114 words ➥ Friday, October 10, 2008 by donnot
โˆž actions = consequences โˆž
232 words ➥ Monday, October 10, 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 2

4) Why was it that the ancients prized this Tao so much? Was it not
because it could be got by seeking for it, and the guilty could escape
(from the stain of their guilt) by it? This is the reason why all
under heaven consider it the most valuable thing.