Blog entry for:
Wed, May 18, 2022 06:37:47 AM
😇 friends and amends 😈
posted: Wed, May 18, 2022 06:37:47 AM
-- keeping it simple! oh how wonderful would it be to say that i NEVER have to make amends to my friends and that i am always to disagree with them, without being disagreeable. and the i wake up, smell the coffee and see that as the ideal i will probably never achieve, no matter how many steps i work. how long i stay clean for or how “spiritual” i get.
after a quick trip through fat-finger land i am back
the problem with keeping things simple, especially when it comes to owning my wrongs with friends and loved ones, is that i have a tendency and a desire to minimize my behavior and the damage it causes by rationalizing my deeds and blaming my “victims.” these are the behaviors that served me well across the course of my active addiction. they bolstered my self-esteem and helped feed the lie that i was broken and needed to hide who i was and how broken i was from everyone in the world. rationalizing and blaming, aided me in that struggle, because when i succeeded in deflecting my responsibility i felt “good.”
this morning, i know i can be myself, say what bis on my mind and if someone does lacks the desire to hear what i have to say, i can walk away without getting them to see m,y point of view. i know that there are resources some of those who are in my life, want from me, but will not request them from me. i could offer, BUT i am better than that and no longer need to play the co-dependent enabling game with anyone who has decided that what they are unwilling to do is something they cannot do. i CHOOSE to extend myself beyond what i believe i can do, because that is the only way i know i can grow. driving fifteen-hundred miles in four days, is one of those limits i used to put on myself, to provide myself justification for not seeing my family in Montana. the day may come when i cannot make that drive, or that it will have to stretch out over more days, BUT it is important to me, that i continue to make the effort.
speaking of making the effort, it is time to head on out to enjoy a sweat-filled, breathless activity. it has been six days since i ran last, as life has interfered with my training schedule. it was not that i could not, it was that i did not, by my own choice. when i say i am not going to allow myself to age the way i see others in my family aging, i am deadly serious. when i say that my amends to myself is behaving my way into better fitness, it is not a joke. my life is too short to create any more regrets and what i have the ability to achieve, i will, just for today.
after a quick trip through fat-finger land i am back
the problem with keeping things simple, especially when it comes to owning my wrongs with friends and loved ones, is that i have a tendency and a desire to minimize my behavior and the damage it causes by rationalizing my deeds and blaming my “victims.” these are the behaviors that served me well across the course of my active addiction. they bolstered my self-esteem and helped feed the lie that i was broken and needed to hide who i was and how broken i was from everyone in the world. rationalizing and blaming, aided me in that struggle, because when i succeeded in deflecting my responsibility i felt “good.”
this morning, i know i can be myself, say what bis on my mind and if someone does lacks the desire to hear what i have to say, i can walk away without getting them to see m,y point of view. i know that there are resources some of those who are in my life, want from me, but will not request them from me. i could offer, BUT i am better than that and no longer need to play the co-dependent enabling game with anyone who has decided that what they are unwilling to do is something they cannot do. i CHOOSE to extend myself beyond what i believe i can do, because that is the only way i know i can grow. driving fifteen-hundred miles in four days, is one of those limits i used to put on myself, to provide myself justification for not seeing my family in Montana. the day may come when i cannot make that drive, or that it will have to stretch out over more days, BUT it is important to me, that i continue to make the effort.
speaking of making the effort, it is time to head on out to enjoy a sweat-filled, breathless activity. it has been six days since i ran last, as life has interfered with my training schedule. it was not that i could not, it was that i did not, by my own choice. when i say i am not going to allow myself to age the way i see others in my family aging, i am deadly serious. when i say that my amends to myself is behaving my way into better fitness, it is not a joke. my life is too short to create any more regrets and what i have the ability to achieve, i will, just for today.
∞ 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!
↔ responsible friendship ↔ 241 words ➥ Wednesday, May 18, 2005 by: donnot∞ sincerely willing to accept the responsibilities involved in friendship ∞ 466 words ➥ Thursday, May 18, 2006 by: donnot
∞ if i am sincerely willing to accept the responsibilities involved in friendship ∞ 321 words ➥ Friday, May 18, 2007 by: donnot
↔ making amends is simple. i approach the person i have harmed and say,**i was wrong.** ↔ 252 words ➥ Sunday, May 18, 2008 by: donnot
σ in every relationship, i do not always handle things the way i would have hoped σ 713 words ➥ Monday, May 18, 2009 by: donnot
± my friendships do not have to end when i make mistakes ± 500 words ➥ Tuesday, May 18, 2010 by: donnot
¥ i make direct amends to such people wherever possible ¥ 467 words ➥ Wednesday, May 18, 2011 by: donnot
⇑ i want to be a responsible friend ⇓ 375 words ➥ Friday, May 18, 2012 by: donnot
— accepting the responsibilities of friendship — 520 words ➥ Saturday, May 18, 2013 by: donnot
⊕ i approach the person i harmed ⊕ 435 words ➥ Sunday, May 18, 2014 by: donnot
∩ i was wrong ∩ 657 words ➥ Monday, May 18, 2015 by: donnot
— amends — 879 words ➥ Wednesday, May 18, 2016 by: donnot
😲 am i sincerely 😱 707 words ➥ Thursday, May 18, 2017 by: donnot
🌈 striving to keep 🦄 576 words ➥ Friday, May 18, 2018 by: donnot
👊 the rest 👊 323 words ➥ Saturday, May 18, 2019 by: donnot
👉 a responsible friend 👌 611 words ➥ Monday, May 18, 2020 by: donnot
💪 handling things, 💩 597 words ➥ Tuesday, May 18, 2021 by: donnot
🌟 connecting 🌟 395 words ➥ Thursday, May 18, 2023 by: donnot
😢 there are times 😢 634 words ➥ Saturday, May 18, 2024 by: donnot
☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 1
2) The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging rule.
To know that unchanging rule is to be intelligent; not to know it
leads to wild movements and evil issues. The knowledge of that unchanging
rule produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity
and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things).
From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and
he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like. In that likeness to
heaven he possesses the Tao. Possessed of the Tao, he endures long;
and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay.