I have been clean for:
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๐Ÿ˜– i did not think ๐Ÿ˜Œ

Posted: Sun, Mar 23, 2025 09:12:39 AM

this program of recovery would work for me, but i am grateful that i proved myself wrong. day in and day out, i wonder what if i had decided to go a different direction, way back when i killed my number and was freed from the chains that bound me to the justice system. i have a whole lot of clues from those who made a different decision than i did, when they reached that turning point. some of them seem to have found a way to live that does not include this program of recovery, they have found faith-based paths that appear to allow them to live a life freed from active addiction. others stay clean on just their force of will or perhaps they were only physically addicted and not true addicts to the core, such as me. some of the others, well, that outcome is not quite as cheery, as they seem to bounce from one job to another, getting new charges and never seeming to get out of the clutches of the law. whether or not that would have been my fate, i do not know. what i do know, is that the life i have now is a direct result of learning to live the program of recovery i was presented with, all those days ago.
as i get rolling on this Sunday morning, i do feel grateful for that decision i made and have no doubts, that for me anyhow, it was the correct one. i can state that i have never been the most open-minded or willing participant in my own recovery. i resisted until i was exhausted and lived in a world where i was more concerned about how i looked to me peers, than how i was feeling inside. after days and days clean, i feel a bit of regret of being such a tough fucking nut to crack, after all … <fill in the blank abut what might have been> 😵
regrets aside, i see that the greatest gift that i have received through perseverance and adherence is that i am being freed from my need to get outside validation of who and what i am. i kind of wonder if my stubborn bull-bullheadedness was necessary for me to achieve this life, that if i had surrendered sooner and actually broke through the level of denial that kept me just sick enough for so long, to keep coming back. as i sift through the nature of my insanity over the past eighteen months as well as yesterday, i am coming to see that i am being restored to something that i never had before. hmmmm, seems like i may have found the way into my writing assignment, i will have to consider that as i get out and about with the dawg and my workout and see what happens. life is not a mystery to me, my life is becoming more open than ever before and that is a function of me staying clean, applying a program of recovery that i never ever wanted.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ™ humility helps ๐Ÿ™‚
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๐ŸŒž the solution ๐ŸŒž
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๐Ÿ˜ i am grateful ๐Ÿ˜
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๐ŸŒ„ on a daily basis, ๐ŸŒ„
306 words ➥ Wednesday, March 23, 2022 by donnot
๐ŸŽ› the powerless one ๐ŸŽš
456 words ➥ Tuesday, March 23, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ accepting what ๐Ÿ
442 words ➥ Monday, March 23, 2020 by donnot
๐ŸŒŠ humbly accepting ๐ŸŽ
578 words ➥ Saturday, March 23, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ—ฆ doing the footwork ๐Ÿ—ง
620 words ➥ Friday, March 23, 2018 by donnot
โœˆ **feeling** the โข
859 words ➥ Thursday, March 23, 2017 by donnot
โ… GOD*s gifts โ…
627 words ➥ Wednesday, March 23, 2016 by donnot
โ™ฅ the gifts of a HIGHER POWER โ™ฅ
527 words ➥ Monday, March 23, 2015 by donnot
ยฆ remembering who i am, today i will humbly accept ยฆ
717 words ➥ Sunday, March 23, 2014 by donnot
ฮง IF i do not pray and listen, ฮง
737 words ➥ Saturday, March 23, 2013 by donnot
โˆ— i do the footwork and accept what โˆ—
671 words ➥ Wednesday, March 23, 2011 by donnot
โˆž my relationship with a Higher Power is a two-way street. โˆž
700 words ➥ Friday, March 23, 2007 by donnot
โˆž accepting what is being given to me freely on a daily basis โˆž
471 words ➥ Thursday, March 23, 2006 by donnot
โ†” knowing my place โ†”
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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

1) He who would assist a lord of men in harmony with the Tao will
not assert his mastery in the kingdom by force of arms. Such a course
is sure to meet with its proper return.