Blog entry for:
Fri, Oct 27, 2006 08:25:28 AM
↔ the guilt, fear, and anger that once dominated me may spill into my new life, complicating my efforts to change and grow. ↔
posted: Fri, Oct 27, 2006 08:25:28 AM
even though the program that has given me this new manner of living, no let me rephrase that, has given me this new life actually works. true, i do not grow when i choose to do nothing the foster that growth. it is also true that i can choose to dwell in the my murky past, whining about how bad i was and how bad things were for me, i am just that sort of nut some days. it is also true that i can worry about the future and try to manipulate the outcomes i desire but do not necessarily need.
most of all, it is true that i have choices today to not do any of those things. that is one of the greatest gifts that i have received to date. i have worked through those six heinous steps in the middle of the set of twelve, and will do so again, in fact i am finishing up my third fourth step now. and i may joke about how heinous those steps are as a set and individually, the truth is that the pain the works creates is more than rewarded by the sense of relief i get upon completion of each of those steps and the set of six as a whole. it is true that the process provides me a manner of living that lets me accept my past and let go of my future and just live the best i can in the here and now. but of course, i have choices today, and one of those choices may be to let the guilt of my checkered past become shame, and let that shame destroy any feelings of self-acceptance i may have. after all, i am still an addict , and that part of me i call my disease still is active in my life, even though i am not using. more and more every day i am beginning to see why people like me decide that at this point in their recovery, using mind-altering substances feels and appears to be a good option. and i can not kid myself about this fact, USING IS ALWAYS AN OPTION! that means i have to choose to do the work before me and continue the growth process, else i too will succumb to the sirens’s call of just one, and that is not something i desire today.
most of all, it is true that i have choices today to not do any of those things. that is one of the greatest gifts that i have received to date. i have worked through those six heinous steps in the middle of the set of twelve, and will do so again, in fact i am finishing up my third fourth step now. and i may joke about how heinous those steps are as a set and individually, the truth is that the pain the works creates is more than rewarded by the sense of relief i get upon completion of each of those steps and the set of six as a whole. it is true that the process provides me a manner of living that lets me accept my past and let go of my future and just live the best i can in the here and now. but of course, i have choices today, and one of those choices may be to let the guilt of my checkered past become shame, and let that shame destroy any feelings of self-acceptance i may have. after all, i am still an addict , and that part of me i call my disease still is active in my life, even though i am not using. more and more every day i am beginning to see why people like me decide that at this point in their recovery, using mind-altering substances feels and appears to be a good option. and i can not kid myself about this fact, USING IS ALWAYS AN OPTION! that means i have to choose to do the work before me and continue the growth process, else i too will succumb to the sirens’s call of just one, and that is not something i desire 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!
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δ for me, the past is like a bad dream. my life is not the same any more, Δ 277 words ➥ Saturday, October 27, 2007 by: donnot
δ the Twelve Steps are the formula that helps me learn to put the past in its place. δ 411 words ➥ Monday, October 27, 2008 by: donnot
√ i still have fleeting, highly charged emotional memories of a really uncomfortable past √ 570 words ➥ Tuesday, October 27, 2009 by: donnot
℘ i want to look my past in the face, see it for what it really was ℘ 530 words ➥ Wednesday, October 27, 2010 by: donnot
← i DO NOT have to be controlled by my past → 572 words ➥ Thursday, October 27, 2011 by: donnot
“ my life is not what it once was and yet, ” 472 words ➥ Saturday, October 27, 2012 by: donnot
Ψ living today as the man i am becoming Ψ 232 words ➥ Sunday, October 27, 2013 by: donnot
≠ i am becoming free to find new ways to live, ≠ 563 words ➥ Monday, October 27, 2014 by: donnot
¶ living in the present ¶ 448 words ➥ Tuesday, October 27, 2015 by: donnot
❅ on being controlled ❆ 802 words ➥ Thursday, October 27, 2016 by: donnot
🍋 once the past 🍇 665 words ➥ Friday, October 27, 2017 by: donnot
🌊 the guilt and fear 🌈 490 words ➥ Saturday, October 27, 2018 by: donnot
🚔 living in a way 🚀 328 words ➥ Sunday, October 27, 2019 by: donnot
🛌 a bad dream 🚿 338 words ➥ Tuesday, October 27, 2020 by: donnot
👁 seeing my past 👁 355 words ➥ Wednesday, October 27, 2021 by: donnot
💨 freed to find 💨 572 words ➥ Thursday, October 27, 2022 by: donnot
👎 accepting 👍 440 words ➥ Friday, October 27, 2023 by: donnot
🌄 living in today 🌄 348 words ➥ Sunday, October 27, 2024 by: donnot
☯ The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao ☯
by Lao-Tse
Translated by James Legge
Book 1
1) The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of doing
it), and so there is nothing which it does not do.