March 30-A, 2023

Trusting ourselves to our original nature
and our innate virtues/specialties
is the grounding principle of our existence.

We are one with ourselves
or, we are split off from ourselves,
divided within,
without guidance or direction,
lost in the wasteland of discontent.

The way out of the wilderness
is the way of deep listening
to ourselves--to our body,
our bones and our stomach,
to our symptoms,
to our heart,
to our nighttime dreams,
to our instinct and intuition,
our uh-oh feeling,
our sense of "Yes" and "No,"
our balance and harmony,
and the flow of our life energy.

All of which can be skewed 
by drugs/sex/alcohol/money.

When addiction to drugs/sex/alcohol/money
is running the show,
it's time to close things down,
go into hibernation,
isolate ourselves from
the disruptive influences,
and sit facing the wall
until we are sober
and capable of independent,
reliable,
judgment.

How long has it been?
It may be a slow road back
to being able to trust ourselves
in knowing what is good for us
and what is bad,
with the wherewithal to say "No"
to the bad
and "Yes" to the good.

All the Twelve-step programs
come down to having what it takes
to surround ourselves with the right
kind of people
who are sources of the right kind 
of support,
enabling us to find the way
to saying "No" when "No" should be said,
and "Yes" when "Yes" should be said.

Woe be unto those with the wrong kind of company!

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