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i can extend the principle of forgiveness.
so here i go again, looking at how the actions of someone else affects my life. or better put, my reaction to those actions. HOW i react is a function of how i judge those effects. if i see them as benefiting me in some manner, well then all is good. i smile and express my gratitude. if i judge that those effects are to my detriment, well that is where my program needs to kick in. i make a joke that once upon a time, if someone stepped on toe, i would desire to cut off their foot. a bit of hyperbole, i know, but it really is not that far off the mark, as evidenced by each and every NINTH STEP i have worked. what i took away from the reading this morning, is that i DO NOT have to behave in that manner any more. sure, anger, rage and revenge are easy for me to do, it was after all, that is where i lived when i was in active addiction. the program is all about becoming the person i never was, so learning to allow anger,rage and vengeance to be diffused before acting is not a bad thing for me to do. which takes me back to STEP SEVEN, allowing the POWER that fuels my recovery to remove this set of shortcomings. which quite neatly brings me back to STEP ELEVEN and my current worldview, how do i humbly ask a POWER that is beyond my ken and ability to even begin to comprehend to do something about who i am? which takes me back to STEP TWO: is it not insane to try and force my idea of what is, upon what i am coming to believe? which circles right back to where i started, how do i detach the actions of others' from the judge that resides within me?
the short answer seems to be, i forgive them, regardless of whether i perceive their actions to be to my benefit or not. i assume that they do what they do, because at that moment of time, that is what they needed to do, and my job is to interact with them, without plowing them down with a spiritual AK-47.
interesting metaphor, a spiritual terrorism, hmmmmm, one i think i will end with and hit the road. it is a great day to be clean and even better day to emulate...

∞ DT ∞