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๐Ÿค” i can be ๐Ÿค”

Posted: Mon, Feb 16, 2026 11:23:48 AM

much more comfortable in an old rut than on a new plateau. today, stepping out of that old rut means allowing myself to actually feel like a retired guy and not rush through my morning, just to get it done. as much as i think that running at nine-thirty in the morning feels indulgent and somehow wrong, it is what happens when one stays in bed until seven AM, which in and of itself feels indulgent. all in all this morning and yesterday have been slip sliding my way to getting out of the house, rather than running helter-skelter and when i consider that as fact, it just feels right. learning to live a life with very few schedules and having to set my own pace and level of activity feels weird. i really do not have a lot of good role models for being the “perfect retired” kind of guy. i see heavy men, who spend their lives watching old movies at work, they complain about health problems and appear to do very little to live a life style that may actually help reduce their complaints. they complain about the world they helped create, as if they are surprised by the consequences of what they. they may provide a role model, as i feel that if i do the opposite of what they do, i will have the sort of life that i aspire to have.
part of stepping out of that old rut, is my attempt to find different sources and seed for my recovery writing in this exercise and to get my day rolling. i am finding less satisfaction with starting my day with the currently fellowship approved daily readings. it is not the topics or the content that is driving my dissatisfaction, it is the fact that i have read them time and again and i have not developed any new takes on the material i read a year ago or over the past couple of decades. i am finding that opening another piece of literature and randomly choosing a passage, provides me with a fresh outlook on my life in recovery. there may be no “advanced” recovery program, but for this addict, changing things up after a minute clean, feels like a new plateau. if i want to stay clean and keep growing, i will need to find the ways and means to keep my recovery journey fresh and meaningful to me, in the here and now.
i do have an errand to attend to before i get rolling off to work, so as the morning disappears under the steady march of time, i will need to figure out, how to wrap this up. my life is so different than it was a year ago and yet i am still clean. the truth is, i am not at all upset about attempting to define a life within my spiritual structure that fits me emotionally and physically. my hope is that i continue to have the desire to live well, be as healthy as i can be and to keep my mind active, even if it means writing silly novels that no one but me will ever read, just for today.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ’ฏ my purely ๐Ÿ’ฏ
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๐ŸŒˆ service and ๐ŸŒˆ
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๐Ÿ˜• pain, grief ๐Ÿ˜–
529 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ญ some days ๐Ÿ˜ง
470 words ➥ Wednesday, February 16, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜– the world ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ
421 words ➥ Tuesday, February 16, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ฏ the reality of today, ๐Ÿ˜ต
463 words ➥ Sunday, February 16, 2020 by donnot
๐ŸŒ„ experiencing this day ๐ŸŒ‡
486 words ➥ Saturday, February 16, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ€ feelings, ๐ŸŒถ
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๐ŸŒŠ i no longer ๐ŸŒˆ
620 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2017 by donnot
โ†ฃ faithful feelings โ†ข
524 words ➥ Tuesday, February 16, 2016 by donnot
โ„ i often end up looking for a way to avoid โ„
580 words ➥ Monday, February 16, 2015 by donnot
โˆ— in fact, i can be sure that life will โˆ—
709 words ➥ Sunday, February 16, 2014 by donnot
ยซ i will demonstrate my trust in the POWER that fuels my recovery, ยป
360 words ➥ Saturday, February 16, 2013 by donnot
โ€” i can experience pain, grief, sadness, anger, frustration โ€”
436 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2012 by donnot
โ„˜ when i refuse to accept the reality of today, โ„˜
827 words ➥ Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by donnot
ฮด i can face good days and bad days, ฮด
272 words ➥ Tuesday, February 16, 2010 by donnot
โˆž some days just are not the way i wish they would be โˆž
172 words ➥ Friday, February 16, 2007 by donnot
ฮฑ accepting the reality of today ฮฑ
480 words ➥ Thursday, February 16, 2006 by donnot
โˆž practicing trust and faith โˆž
251 words ➥ Wednesday, February 16, 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

2) Therefore the sentence-makers have thus expressed themselves:--

'The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack;
Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back;
Its even way is like a rugged track.
Its highest virtue from the vale doth rise;
Its greatest beauty seems to offend the eyes;
And he has most whose lot the least supplies.
Its firmest virtue seems but poor and low;
Its solid truth seems change to undergo;
Its largest square doth yet no corner show
A vessel great, it is the slowest made;
Loud is its sound, but never word it said;
A semblance great, the shadow of a shade.'