Blog entry for:

Sun, Feb 26, 2012 06:07:44 AM


ℜ my remorse can be intensified by thinking that i cannot ℜ
posted: Sun, Feb 26, 2012 06:07:44 AM

 

do anything about the damage i cause -- because there is no way to make it right.
yes it is way early on a Sunday morning, but i am up for a good cause this morning, part of my effort to pay back the fellowship that has given me the ability to even consider a topic such a using remorse as a tool of my recovery, rather than my addiction. a recurring theme over the past few weeks, is that not only am i powerless over my addiction, i am powerless over the addiction others as well. no matter how sad i feel, no matter how much i beat myself up for not giving them what they need, no matter how remorseful i feel, that powerlessness remains a fact of life that i need to accept. even with an intellectual understanding and an acceptance at a conscious level, i still feel remorseful, thinking that i had not given them enough. what remorse does for me in this instance, is disguise the fact that the real harm was not in giving them enough, the REAL harm, at least in this instance was using my authority position to retaliate for my hurt feelings. by retaliate, i mean i reverted to a behavior, that i am quite familiar with, not only evening the score, tit-for-tat, but making sure i inflicted more pain than i received, getting even PLUS. my escalated response, reminds me of my reality: I AM BY NO MEANS CURED! it is a good thing, that i am working a program, because here is where remorse could kick my butt! by allowing it to simmer within and fester into something nasty, i can BECOME ready to make amends and make them, without waiting for a formal 8TH and 9TH step process. it is true i will NEED to revisit this, when that time comes, but STEP 10 allows me the freedom to clean up my messes as they happen, much closer to real-time. here my remorse is used to clean-up my pile of sh!t, before it gets a chance to turn into a reason for me to decide to use.
so anyhow, the time to hit the road and journey down south is upon me. it is a good day to be clean and following my theme of a sponsee a day, since last tuesday, juts one more day in that chain as well. it is after all a great day to give away what was given to me, and expect nothing in return, nice work when you can find it.

∞ 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!

∞ using remorse ∞ 385 words ➥ Sunday, February 26, 2006 by: donnot
δ remorse is no longer an instrument i use to torture myself. Δ 376 words ➥ Monday, February 26, 2007 by: donnot
μ i remove some of the power of remorse when i face it squarely. the Eighth Step does not ask … 531 words ➥ Tuesday, February 26, 2008 by: donnot
δ as i become willing to clean up the damage i have caused, Δ 534 words ➥ Thursday, February 26, 2009 by: donnot
¨ while living in active addiction, i left a trail ¨ 521 words ➥ Friday, February 26, 2010 by: donnot
Æ the Eighth Step offers a big change from a life Æ 776 words ➥ Saturday, February 26, 2011 by: donnot
† i stumbled through active addiction, † 334 words ➥ Tuesday, February 26, 2013 by: donnot
♣ i will use any feelings of remorse i may have ♣ 522 words ➥ Wednesday, February 26, 2014 by: donnot
$ merely to become willing $ 557 words ➥ Thursday, February 26, 2015 by: donnot
✌ remorse ✌ 516 words ➥ Friday, February 26, 2016 by: donnot
☂ owning my part ☔ 613 words ➥ Sunday, February 26, 2017 by: donnot
🥃 as an instrument 🥀 672 words ➥ Monday, February 26, 2018 by: donnot
🌤 feelings of remorse 🌦 463 words ➥ Tuesday, February 26, 2019 by: donnot
🌊 owning my part, 🌊 459 words ➥ Wednesday, February 26, 2020 by: donnot
🏁 a big change 💭 482 words ➥ Friday, February 26, 2021 by: donnot
😔 am i willing to 🥁 551 words ➥ Saturday, February 26, 2022 by: donnot
🤒 my painful past, 🤕 633 words ➥ Sunday, February 26, 2023 by: donnot
🔧 the practicality 🔨 450 words ➥ Monday, February 26, 2024 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 2

2) It is only by this moderation that there is effected an early return
(to man's normal state). That early return is what I call the repeated
accumulation of the attributes (of the Tao). With that repeated accumulation
of those attributes, there comes the subjugation (of every obstacle
to such return). Of this subjugation we know not what shall be the
limit; and when one knows not what the limit shall be, he may be the
ruler of a state.