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โ†” with all sorts of changes taking place, it is only natural to grab hold of โ†”

Posted: Tue, Dec 12, 2006 06:59:21 AM

something, anything familiar and try to hold on. solace can be found in a Power greater than myself.
and of course the irony of this reading is that when thinking about how my misery was optional yesterday i nailed myself with this whole issue about fear of change. of course i am afraid of change, and of course my growing nascent FAITH is a replacement for that FEAR, BUT, and it is a BIG ONE, i still am learning how to let go of the illusion of control i have deluded myself into thinking i have over the pace and course of change in my life. the weirdest part of this whole topic, is that i change even if all i do is NOT USE ANYTHING JUST FOR TODAY. so i do have a bit of control over the change process. work steps, work with my sponsor, and being of service to my fellowship creates a process that has been beneficial to me, no matter how much it scares me. doing nothing to foster my recovery creates a process that brings me greater misery. my FEAR of change is so irrational that it can actually kill me. understanding that on an intellectual level is one thing, accepting that as fact in my heart of hearts is quite a different kettle of fish. that has always been one of the roadblocks in my recovery, the movement of an idea from my head to my heart. so the reading once again reminds me how i am not unique in the adoption of this path, like others who have come before me, i struggle with the illusion that somehow i am in charge of the change process, shattering that illusion is what this is all about for me today. truthfully i can tell you that as i progress through the tenth year of my recovery, i am struggling with some of the strangest notions in my head. stuff like i can have a glass of wine and not end up in the same place i was when i got here. stuff like the whole of the fellowship cannot possibly understand me. stuff like this is how i have always been, all the abstinence from the use of any substances has done is give me control over the part of me i call my disease. after all, i have not been locked-up for quite some time. i have learned how to be successful. and i have learned how to love myself and others, so i must have arrived at a cure. most of all i am starting to get the notion that there has to be more to my life than just recovery, the time has come to move beyond the fellowship and venture out into life, and relegate recovery to something else. i understand that these thoughts are dangerous and that i am not the first person in recovery to start to feel that clean time and social acceptability is a sign of being cured.
what do i think i need to do today as a result of tripping down this particular path? well for one call my sponsor, buy a new notebook and wait to see where the the uncontrollable force of change takes me in this next twenty-four hours. practice a bit of courage and hang on to what i have, instead of pitching it all and inducing a process of change that i probably will not like. after all, i do not have to drink that glass of wine today!

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿค” how am i ๐Ÿค”
401 words ➥ Friday, December 12, 2025 by donnot
๐Ÿ’ก the idea that ๐Ÿ’ก
519 words ➥ Thursday, December 12, 2024 by donnot
๐ŸŒซ principles and ๐ŸŒซ
401 words ➥ Tuesday, December 12, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ฑ losing my ๐Ÿ˜Ž
576 words ➥ Monday, December 12, 2022 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜จ fear of change ๐Ÿ˜จ
277 words ➥ Sunday, December 12, 2021 by donnot
๐ŸŒ‹ all will be well ๐ŸŒž
596 words ➥ Saturday, December 12, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ฎ the series ๐Ÿ˜ต
556 words ➥ Thursday, December 12, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ˆ trying to grab ๐Ÿ˜‡
442 words ➥ Wednesday, December 12, 2018 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ฑ as i outgrow ๐Ÿ˜ต
434 words ➥ Tuesday, December 12, 2017 by donnot
โ†ฑ each and every โ†ฒ
474 words ➥ Monday, December 12, 2016 by donnot
< fear >
354 words ➥ Saturday, December 12, 2015 by donnot
โˆ€ the more i allow changes to happen in accordance with โˆ€
545 words ➥ Friday, December 12, 2014 by donnot
ยซ my initial emotional reaction to change is fear ยป
540 words ➥ Thursday, December 12, 2013 by donnot
โˆ‚ for some reason, i assume that each and every change โˆ‚
663 words ➥ Wednesday, December 12, 2012 by donnot
ฮ” life is a series of changes, both large and small. ฮ”
464 words ➥ Friday, December 12, 2008 by donnot
โˆž fearing the change or changing the fear โˆž
747 words ➥ Monday, December 12, 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

1) He whose boldness appears in his daring (to do wrong, in defiance
of the laws) is put to death; he whose boldness appears in his not
daring (to do so) lives on. Of these two cases the one appears to
be advantageous, and the other to be injurious. But

When Heaven's anger smites a man,
Who the cause shall truly scan? On this account the sage feels a difficulty
(as to what to do in the former case).