I have been clean for:
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๐Ÿ›‡ taking direction ๐Ÿ›ก

Posted: Wed, May 5, 2021 07:05:14 AM

is not something i do very well. it is true, that i am better than i used to be, but still far from perfect, as i really hate being told what i MUST do. this morning, as i sit here and consider where i once was and where i am today. i can say that i guess i was **good enough** at taking direction to do the needful. i have become habituated to going to any lengths to stay clean and yes, even find the ways and means to live a program of active recovery. even though it feels like life sucks these days and based on the events over the past four months, i have ample cause to “use.” it is only because i strive to stay clean, no matter what, that i am clean today, even if a quick trip to get a legal substance or three, might give me a brief vacation from recovery.
where is the HOPE in all of that? what kind of message am i sending when i whine about life's events and the toll it takes on my serenity? i think back on the conversation i had the other day and the question i asked about willingness, and i consider my own. even though i have been clean for a minute, riding a roller-coaster of emotions is still tough. FEAR of an uncertain future looms large. doing the next correct thing, becomes harder and harder as i slip back into my state of being entitled to get what i think is mine. i feel more like those who cannot and will not accept that forty-five lost, fairly and squarely and need to lie to myself about how this shit is just not working for me. when i get all spun about what was and what may be, i start down the rabbit-hole of wondering if i am one of those who is just “around” the program or someone who has actually learned to live a program of active recovery.
where i find myself after all of that, is considering alternatives and remembering what my life was like, way back when. today, i do have the ability to let go, to forgive, to give and receive love and to seek a better manner in which to live. back then, all i could do, is sit on a bar-stool and whine about how awful my empty, unfulfilled life was and wonder who was going to come to my rescue. i still may drift back in that direction, but living a life in STEP ELEVEN, provides me just enough of what i need to move forward. moving forward, it is time to suit up and get some steps in, before giving myself the freedom to give my employer a few hours of dedicated work. yes, there is a meeting in my future and certainly some creative coding to do today. all in all, a path to FREEDOM from self-obsession is laid before me, if i choose to go to any lengths to stay clean, just for today.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿค• why on earth ๐ŸŒŽ
569 words ➥ Tuesday, May 5, 2026 by donnot
๐Ÿ›ฃ my path ๐Ÿ›ค
449 words ➥ Monday, May 5, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ open-minded ๐Ÿ˜•
460 words ➥ Sunday, May 5, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ต gratitude ๐Ÿคฏ
515 words ➥ Friday, May 5, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ’ก just get me out ๐Ÿ’จ
543 words ➥ Thursday, May 5, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿค” what does ๐Ÿคจ
488 words ➥ Tuesday, May 5, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿšช i can stay clean, ๐Ÿšฃ
596 words ➥ Sunday, May 5, 2019 by donnot
โ€ผ was i willing โ€ฝ
573 words ➥ Saturday, May 5, 2018 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜” am i ready โ“
695 words ➥ Friday, May 5, 2017 by donnot
โˆ˜ become as โˆ˜
587 words ➥ Thursday, May 5, 2016 by donnot
โˆผ any lengths โˆผ
567 words ➥ Tuesday, May 5, 2015 by donnot
ยซ my best thinking, it is often said, ยป
790 words ➥ Monday, May 5, 2014 by donnot
ยฟ why do i find it so hard to ask for ?
1001 words ➥ Sunday, May 5, 2013 by donnot
ฦ’ IF i am willing to go to any lengths, follow direction ,
275 words ➥ Saturday, May 5, 2012 by donnot
ยฟ i was ready to go to any lengths to stay clean ยฟ
642 words ➥ Thursday, May 5, 2011 by donnot
โˆž what do you mean, any lengths? โˆž
341 words ➥ Friday, May 5, 2006 by donnot
โˆž any lengths or whatever it takes โˆž
461 words ➥ Thursday, May 5, 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

3) Therefore a sage has said, 'I will do nothing (of purpose), and
the people will be transformed of themselves; I will be fond of keeping
still, and the people will of themselves become correct. I will take
no trouble about it, and the people will of themselves become rich;
I will manifest no ambition, and the people will of themselves attain
to the primitive simplicity.'