Blog entry for:

Tue, Mar 10, 2020 08:59:20 AM


🤨 staying clean 🤪
posted: Tue, Mar 10, 2020 08:59:20 AM

 

by **ass-mosis** is not a path that yields **good results for me. i cannot speak for my peers, but over time i have observed more than once, when i step away from living a program, i end up in a state of being: **restless, irritable, and discontented.** i certainly have been in a period where my meeting attendance has fallen way off, life just keeps getting in the way. the excuses can fly and the only thing that is keeping me sane is my slavish adherence to a daily program of maintenance of my recovery. my grace, as it were, comes from what i do, rather than how many meetings i happen to show-up at and that action keeps me connected with the source of my recovery.
here is where i normally would go into dissing my peers about how they behave when meeting attendance is the sole pillar of their recovery program. instead, i have what i need to see in their behavior and decided for myself, that is not what i want in my life. i have lived a life in mere abstinence, going to at least a meeting every day and that path brought me to a pace of desperation, sitting in a room 2000 miles away from home, with one of my favorite substances and a very strong desire to say F*CK IT ALL, and dive in. that relapse, in all but actually using, was the nuclear charge that i needed to learn how to live a program. the result of those ancient times, still drives me today, as i learned, then and there, that i could no longer deny i had power over using and needed to do something more IF i wanted to have a life worth living.
today as i sit here, fretting about COVID-19 and how it will affect my upcoming trips, i need to remember the only reason i GET to consider planning trips, is because i have learned how to live a program of daily recovery. i may not not do it perfectly and have not ascended to “advanced” or “supreme” recovery, BUT i do have a program that sustains me. diffusion, osmosis or recovering vicariously through the efforts of my peers, does not work for this addict and i need to be reminded of that, each and every day. i am clean today and that gift comes from the POWER that is the source of my recovery and is manifest in my desire to do whatever it takes to live a program of recovery, just for today.

∞ 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!

∞ working a program ∞ 167 words ➥ Thursday, March 10, 2005 by: donnot
α i want everything my personal program has to offer Ω 400 words ➥ Friday, March 10, 2006 by: donnot
∞ i cannot stay clean by osmosis, i cannot just attend meetings, no matter how many, ∞ 500 words ➥ Saturday, March 10, 2007 by: donnot
α i cannot just attend meetings, no matter how many, and expect to breathe recovery in through the pores of my skin. Ω 303 words ➥ Monday, March 10, 2008 by: donnot
σ the heart of our recovery program is the Twelve Steps -- in fact … 508 words ➥ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 by: donnot
∝ there is lots to like in the fellowship that has provided me this new manner of living ∝ 498 words ➥ Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by: donnot
♣ the steps are THE solution, my survival kit, my defense against addiction ♣ 954 words ➥ Thursday, March 10, 2011 by: donnot
¢ i want everything a personal program of RECOVERY has to offer ¢ 518 words ➥ Saturday, March 10, 2012 by: donnot
◊  to get the most from my recovery, ◊  490 words ➥ Sunday, March 10, 2013 by: donnot
∃ i have heard it said that one cannot stay clean by osmosis ∃ 522 words ➥ Monday, March 10, 2014 by: donnot
µ my survival kit µ 647 words ➥ Tuesday, March 10, 2015 by: donnot
☼ my own recovery ☀ 926 words ➥ Thursday, March 10, 2016 by: donnot
⫘ to get the most ⫘ 574 words ➥ Friday, March 10, 2017 by: donnot
🍄 just attending 🍄 692 words ➥ Saturday, March 10, 2018 by: donnot
🏟 an inside job 💨 557 words ➥ Sunday, March 10, 2019 by: donnot
💣 expecting to 💥 547 words ➥ Wednesday, March 10, 2021 by: donnot
🌈 getting the most 🌈 388 words ➥ Thursday, March 10, 2022 by: donnot
🔎 finding 🗫 695 words ➥ Friday, March 10, 2023 by: donnot
😎 i certainly KNOW 😎 622 words ➥ Sunday, March 10, 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

1) The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to)
frighten them with death? If the people were always in awe of death,
and I could always seize those who do wrong, and put them to death,
who would dare to do wrong?