I have been clean for:
I Stand With Ukraine

Welcome

Journal

Some memes

Feel Free to steal and repost these memes!

Surrender meme Work the steps meme

โ‡” if i truly want to be free, โ‡”

Posted: Sun, Dec 29, 2013 09:50:29 AM

i will take a good look at input from fellow addicts. the real question is, do i really WANT TO BE FREE? oh i say so, after all the chains and prison of active addiction weighed heavily on me for all, those years. the seeming prison of early recovery, doing everything that felt like it went against all that is was, was almost enough to get over the barrier of not wanting to become a ward of the state. freedom, as i have come to find out, also has its price and its consequences, and some of those are not to my liking!
here is where the lie comes in, disguised as a rationalization, but a lie nevertheless. as i get freedom, including the ability to be self-supporting i lose all the excuses i have to stay sick and miserable. no one, unless i choose to allow them to, can make me miserable. so when i slip back into the “see what you made me do” mode, after all if YOU were working a program, i would not have done what i did. freedom from active addiction, has also meant freedom from co-dependance for me. when the three disturbing realizations kick-in, instead of doing the next right thing, working a step, calling a trusted friend, sharing at a meeting, i clamp down, certain that everyone is judging me and act as if what i am thinking is some sort of fVcking state secret, that i would kill to protect. yes, my defensive reaction is to become even more self-obsessed and isolated. after all, i tell myself, judging myself through the eyes of others, is one of the most pernicious shortcomings i have. such a perfect foil to prevent others from penetrating into my inner sanctum and seeing what a frightened, immature baby i still can be today.
of course, i am using a bit of hyperbole, to drive home my point, but it really is just a bit. somewhere down the line, i got the notion that i was beyond repair, that message was hammered home, as i learned to accept myself for who i am today. IF i can accept myself as i am today, why in the world do i need to grow into the man that i never was, life as a child is oh so much easier. the consequence of freedom, at least for me, is the knowledge of who i can become and what it will take to get there or tolerating who i am and saying this is as good as it gets, so suffer bee-awtch!
so i dilly-dally. i hitch my recovery wagon to someone else's and abdicate all responsibility for my life, telling myself that this is what humility is and certain that everyone, see me just as i want to present myself, strong silent and without a flaw worth mentioning. in reality, i spiraling down to my next use and not able to let go of my ego enough to ask for the help i so desperately need. which just may come from one of my peers, in the form of friendly feedback or a snide aside.
round and round and down the drain i go!
it is a good thing, that most of the time, i accept that i am far from being the man i want to be. that the will of the POWER that fuels my recovery is for me to stay clean and yes have the best life i possibly can have. and that i have the FREEDOM to ask others what is wrong with me, and take their insight and apply it to my life.
i have gone on long enough, so i guess i will get up. shower off and be present for what today may bring, it is a great day to walk in the FREEDOM from active addiction, consequences and all.

∞ DT ∞


Another Look

This day in older entries

๐Ÿ—œ steadfastness is ๐Ÿ—˜
471 words ➥ Monday, December 29, 2025 by donnot
๐ŸŒฌ coming to understand ๐ŸŒซ
273 words ➥ Sunday, December 29, 2024 by donnot
๐Ÿšฃ remaining steadfast, ๐Ÿšฃ
505 words ➥ Friday, December 29, 2023 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜ก a broader vision ๐Ÿ˜ก
493 words ➥ Thursday, December 29, 2022 by donnot
๐ŸŒŒ areas of my life ๐ŸŒ
522 words ➥ Wednesday, December 29, 2021 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘Ž as bad, ๐Ÿ‘
370 words ➥ Tuesday, December 29, 2020 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘€ taking a good look ๐Ÿ‘€
438 words ➥ Sunday, December 29, 2019 by donnot
๐Ÿ‘ถ an awkward realization, ๐Ÿ‘ด
439 words ➥ Saturday, December 29, 2018 by donnot
๐Ÿšฉ not necessarily ๐Ÿš‘
649 words ➥ Friday, December 29, 2017 by donnot
๐Ÿ˜‡ neither as selfish ๐Ÿ˜ˆ
802 words ➥ Thursday, December 29, 2016 by donnot
โœŒ through the eyes โœŒ
476 words ➥ Tuesday, December 29, 2015 by donnot
ฮด i can see that i am probably neither as bad, ฮด
504 words ➥ Monday, December 29, 2014 by donnot
ยฟ even malicious remarks about my supposed shortcomings can *
395 words ➥ Saturday, December 29, 2012 by donnot
โ‡‘ i seek to see myself as i truly am, โ‡‘
376 words ➥ Thursday, December 29, 2011 by donnot
ฮฑ accepting feedback or seeing myself ฯ‰
371 words ➥ Thursday, December 29, 2005 by donnot
โˆž seeing myself... โˆž
281 words ➥ Wednesday, December 29, 2004 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 1

2) Therefore the sage puts his own person last, and yet it is found
in the foremost place; he treats his person as if it were foreign
to him, and yet that person is preserved. Is it not because he has
no personal and private ends, that therefore such ends are realised?