Blog entry for:

Thu, Dec 7, 2006 07:25:02 AM


∞ you do not survive your feelings, i thought, you drug them. ∞
posted: Thu, Dec 7, 2006 07:25:02 AM

 

the problem was, that cure for my unsurvivable emotions was killing me.
although i did not have a clue that i was dieing at all. by the time i came to the path of recovery, i had absolutely no feelings at all. i actually prided myself on the fact that i had rooted all those painful, uncomfortable and unmanageable emotions away. the only feeling that i had left was anger, and lots of it, in fact you may even label it RAGE, and i was working on getting rid of that one too! i was under the belief that it was my emotions and feelings, not the lack thereof, that caused me to be the sort of person i needed to be at any given time. the price i paid was i also had trouble feeling happy, joyful or even okay with who i was. i lacked any meaningful relationships and those who loved me, barely tolerated my presence.
so are feelings any less messy now that i have a few days clean? not by a long shot! BUT i have yet to die from experiencing any feeling! it is true that i have to own up to my misbehavior when i lash out in anger. it is also true that i have to go back and take responsibility for my actions when i do so something in retaliation for being hurt. so one may come to the conclusion that feelings are messy, and perhaps removing them by substituting another behavior for drug use is the way to go. well take it from me, those feelings that i stuff or behave away have always come back to haunt me, often in the most inconvenient times, against the wrong person, and the messes i have to go clean-up are much worse. yes the steps and the program give me a manner of living that allows me top survive my feelings, messy or painful as they may be. it is my choice whether i want to live through them or not, and today i think i will just let myself feel them, after all it is better to have a feeling or three than to use another substance!

∞ DT ∞

 

djtConsulting Brand
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.

Another Look!

∞ surviving my emotions ∞ 292 words ➥ Tuesday, December 7, 2004 by: donnot
↔ i survived! ↔ 621 words ➥ Wednesday, December 7, 2005 by: donnot
μ the program works today as well as it ever did. by using the tools available to me μ 444 words ➥ Friday, December 7, 2007 by: donnot
μ when i was using, i never gave myself the chance to learn how to survive my feelings μ 515 words ➥ Sunday, December 7, 2008 by: donnot
∏ the problem is, that **cure** for unsurvivable emotions will kill me ∏ 669 words ➥ Monday, December 7, 2009 by: donnot
∫ by using the tools available to me, i can develop the ability to survive my emotions ∫ 700 words ➥ Tuesday, December 7, 2010 by: donnot
‡ i will not deny my feelings and i will do my best ‡ 378 words ➥ Wednesday, December 7, 2011 by: donnot
¢ by taking stock of my day, getting honest about my part in it, ¢ 647 words ➥ Friday, December 7, 2012 by: donnot
⇒ i was tired of pretending that addiction and my life ⇐ 310 words ➥ Saturday, December 7, 2013 by: donnot
→ the more i live a program of active recovery, → 606 words ➥ Sunday, December 7, 2014 by: donnot
☀ surviving my emotions ☁ 591 words ➥ Monday, December 7, 2015 by: donnot
☂ giving myself ☃ 897 words ➥ Wednesday, December 7, 2016 by: donnot
💥 surrendering 💸 410 words ➥ Thursday, December 7, 2017 by: donnot
💊 the **cure** 💉 579 words ➥ Friday, December 7, 2018 by: donnot
🔥 developing the ability 🔥 571 words ➥ Saturday, December 7, 2019 by: donnot
🤔 you have 🤔 522 words ➥ Monday, December 7, 2020 by: donnot
🙈 in order 🙈 410 words ➥ Tuesday, December 7, 2021 by: donnot
😬 to survive 🙄 542 words ➥ Wednesday, December 7, 2022 by: donnot
🧠 keeping my mind 🤯 485 words ➥ Thursday, December 7, 2023 by: donnot
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☯ 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

2) The multitude of men look satisfied and pleased; as if enjoying
a full banquet, as if mounted on a tower in spring. I alone seem listless
and still, my desires having as yet given no indication of their presence.
I am like an infant which has not yet smiled. I look dejected and
forlorn, as if I had no home to go to. The multitude of men all have
enough and to spare. I alone seem to have lost everything. My mind
is that of a stupid man; I am in a state of chaos. Ordinary men look
bright and intelligent, while I alone seem to be benighted. They look
full of discrimination, while I alone am dull and confused. I seem
to be carried about as on the sea, drifting as if I had nowhere to
rest. All men have their spheres of action, while I alone seem dull
and incapable, like a rude borderer. (Thus) I alone am different from
other men, but I value the nursing-mother (the Tao).