Blog entry for:

Wed, Jan 18, 2006 06:09:12 AM


↔ doing it every day ↔
posted: Wed, Jan 18, 2006 06:09:12 AM

 

well i here i sit a year later thinking once again about my daily inventory. it is true that i have done a formal tenth step and have an inventory formula that i follow on a very regular basis. in fact many of the suggested questions in today‘s reading are part of that inventory, so what is my beef?
a very good question! part of what is going through my head was something that was shared at the meeting i attended last night. there was an addict who is unwilling to share his fourth step inventory sharing about how helpful it was for him to do a tenth step inventory every day. this guy has some time, but has never been willing to move beyond writing a fourth step and yet he talks like he has six more steps behind him. what is bugging me, is am i just posing too? his sharing began a dialogue inside of me that started asking whether my recovery is real or just a sham, a front i put-up for my friends, family and peers? have i really accepted in my heart of hearts that i am an addict and my life is unmanageable because of the disease of addiction? am i really coming to believe that i can be restored to sanity? do i actually turn my will and my life over into the care of a POWER GREATER THAN ME? and most of all am i doing everything i can, to the best of my current ability to nurture my ongoing recovery? in other words, the mental masturbation is once again off and running! i can sit here and mind-fuck myself all i want to, or i can use my mind to look at the evidence and see what it reveals, good, bad or indifferent! so here goes.....
the last time i intentionally harmed someone was quite some time ago. the last time i judged the quality of another addict‘s recovery was yesterday. the last time i intentionally injured myself was this month by neglecting my physical health. the last time i spoke to another addict was ten hours ago. the last time i believed that i was unworthy of recovery was thirty minutes ago. the last time i wrote a daily inventory was last night. the last time i prayed was ninety minutes ago. the last time i meditated was seventy-five minutes ago. the last time i helped another addict through some of his issues was last night. the last time i did something for someone else without expectation of return was fifteen hours ago. the last i grew concerned about someone i had not heard from lately was yesterday. the last time i told someone that i loved them was ten hours ago. so it does look like i am doing what i need to do to maintain my spiritual condition and perhaps the whole fear, uncertainty and doubt gig i was feeling was just the part of me i call my disease reminding me that it is still there, waiting patiently for me to stumble. after all that part of me wants me dead but will settle for me getting loaded.
my conclusions? right now, right here i am firmly entrenched in my recovery and can move forward with the confidence that i can stay clean today.
so long and thanks for all the fish!
∞ 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!

∞  a simple inventory?  ∞ 226 words ➥ Tuesday, January 18, 2005 by: donnot
∞ my daily inventory does not have to be complicated to be effective. ∞ 434 words ➥ Thursday, January 18, 2007 by: donnot
↔ the most complicated part of taking a regular inventory is deciding  ↔ 412 words ➥ Friday, January 18, 2008 by: donnot
↔ i want to monitor the positive aspects of my life in my daily inventory. ↔ 187 words ➥ Sunday, January 18, 2009 by: donnot
∞ a daily inventory is a tool i can use to simplify my life ∞ 310 words ➥ Monday, January 18, 2010 by: donnot
« i am forming a habit of looking at myself, » 819 words ➥ Tuesday, January 18, 2011 by: donnot
♠ i want to keep in touch with the way i feel ♠ 424 words ➥ Wednesday, January 18, 2012 by: donnot
“ continuing to take a personal inventory means that i form a habit: ” 773 words ➥ Friday, January 18, 2013 by: donnot
¿ what did i do today that i would want to do again ? 338 words ➥ Saturday, January 18, 2014 by: donnot
♦ i set aside a few minutes at the close of each day ♦ 684 words ➥ Sunday, January 18, 2015 by: donnot
✎ the simple inventory ✏ 498 words ➥ Monday, January 18, 2016 by: donnot
❔ what did i do ❓ 770 words ➥ Wednesday, January 18, 2017 by: donnot
🌈 a very simple tool 🌋 508 words ➥ Thursday, January 18, 2018 by: donnot
😈 a knot 😇 435 words ➥ Friday, January 18, 2019 by: donnot
🔎 simplifing my life, 💭 534 words ➥ Saturday, January 18, 2020 by: donnot
📜 a regular basis 📝 524 words ➥ Monday, January 18, 2021 by: donnot
👣 to keep 👣 457 words ➥ Tuesday, January 18, 2022 by: donnot
🖎 my actions, 🖋 591 words ➥ Wednesday, January 18, 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

4) When things have attained their strong maturity they become old.
This may be said to be not in accordance with the Tao: and what is
not in accordance with it soon comes to an end.