Blog entry for:

Wed, May 31, 2006 07:31:19 AM


α one breath at a time, i can stay clean and learn to live ω
posted: Wed, May 31, 2006 07:31:19 AM

 

but taking that step to breaking life up into that basic element of time is always the hard part for me. as i have stayed clean and accumulated some time, the idea of living breath to breath becomes somehow harder and without merit, after all, how can i accomplish all the things i need to accomplish in my busy day, if i do not plan and allocate time?
well remembering back to my early recovery, when i had the jones to use so badly my teeth hurt, the only way i made it through was to go from breath to breath, just staying clean until the next breath. those breaths became minutes, those minutes days and those days have extended into years. these days staying clean (or at least making the decision to stay clean) is as easy as breathing for me. the rest of life is what is so tough -- relationships, career, housework, yard work, step work, friendships, sponsorship, family time and on and on. to balance all those life complexities, takes time and effort and seems to contrary to the idea of living breath to breath. and then i read this reading and it reminds me that i need to look at how to simplify my life. sure i have to plan and allocate, but once i make the plan, i proceed moment by moment to accomplish what i can. i am only human and there really are only so many hours in a day. now that the clichés are out of the way, the reality is that i NEED to do my best to get the stuff i need to get done, revising my plans to accommodate what has happened in this moment and learning to look at my life as it really is -- a chain of moments strung together only by my memory, the next moment is beyond my ken and once it arrives it gets added to the chain of the preceding moments and stressing or worrying about how best to spend that next moment only wastes the one i have now. it really does make things a whole lot simpler when i look at it that way! so off to the next moment to see what i can get done while savoring life in this moment!

∞ 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!

∞ looking at today ∞ 378 words ➥ Tuesday, May 31, 2005 by: donnot
∞ looking at life and all its details, all at once, may be overwhelming. ∞ 317 words ➥ Thursday, May 31, 2007 by: donnot
↔ life often seems too complicated to understand, especially for me, … 414 words ➥ Saturday, May 31, 2008 by: donnot
↔ when i stopped using drugs, i came face to face with a world that was confusing, even terrifying ↔ 502 words ➥ Sunday, May 31, 2009 by: donnot
~ when i stopped using drugs, i came face to face with a world ~ 502 words ➥ Monday, May 31, 2010 by: donnot
⁄ i live a day at a time but also from moment to moment ⁄ 428 words ➥ Tuesday, May 31, 2011 by: donnot
ℜ happily, i do not  have to fix all of the “problems” i may have, at once ℜ 642 words ➥ Thursday, May 31, 2012 by: donnot
∂  today, i will tackle only the problems i face today ∂  548 words ➥ Friday, May 31, 2013 by: donnot
→ happily, i never have to fix everything at once. ⇒ 572 words ➥ Saturday, May 31, 2014 by: donnot
β keep it simple β 782 words ➥ Sunday, May 31, 2015 by: donnot
☈ leaving the problems ☇ 534 words ➥ Tuesday, May 31, 2016 by: donnot
↬ even with clean time, ↫ 735 words ➥ Wednesday, May 31, 2017 by: donnot
😵 a world that is 😵 482 words ➥ Thursday, May 31, 2018 by: donnot
🙻 maybe i cannot 🙻 660 words ➥ Friday, May 31, 2019 by: donnot
🍄 moment to moment 🍄 517 words ➥ Sunday, May 31, 2020 by: donnot
🌫 one breath 🌫 366 words ➥ Monday, May 31, 2021 by: donnot
🏚 taking care 🏛 623 words ➥ Tuesday, May 31, 2022 by: donnot
🌶 finding balance 💫 360 words ➥ Wednesday, May 31, 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 2

2) Thus we may see,
Who cleaves to fame
Rejects what is more great;
Who loves large stores
Gives up the richer state.