I have been receiving so many comments from readers like you and I can't express adequately what it means to me. I love my work, both the writing and the workshops, but much of it is solitary. When readers comment, whether in the affirmative or taking exception to what I have said or written, I at least know we have "touched" each other. Our connectedness is the pathway to healing an[...]
41 I heard a great talk today about the limitations we place on ourselves. The speaker insisted, and I agree, that our vision of who God is and what can be accomplished with God as the "bus driver," is far smaller than the reality. We've likely been doubting our capabilities on many fronts for years: avoiding a particular sport, perhaps; or being afraid to apply for a different job, sure[...]
I heard a great talk last night by a long term recovering alcoholic and addict. He went through the steps and shared his journey, making it a talk that could be appreciated by both the old-timer and the newcomer. There was humor along with humility. A proper amount of pride in his successes but he wasn't prideful. And he shared a few really wonderful one-liners that I will cherish for[...]
By the time you read this the elections will be well over and the newly chosen members of Congress will be cheering the results. The losers will be licking their wounds, wondering how they could have prevented their losses while the pendulum continues to swing. And there's good in that. It keeps both sides on their toes. Unfortunately, of late, it has made both sides mean and vindict[...]
How I saw myself and how I felt were in the hands of others for the better part of the first four decades of my life. I "danced" around the actions and the opinions of every one, desperately trying to be accepted and not rejected. What had made me that way is likely owing to many things. I wasn't raised in a household where love was freely expressed, not between my parents or toward[...]
On Wednesday night there was a memorial service for a friend who died a week earlier. I hadn't seen Rita all summer because of her health and my schedule, but we go back many years. She was one of the first women I hung out with when I came into the 12 step rooms. Her presence in my life then was significant in so many ways. She made me laugh, a lot, and I needed to learn how to la[...]
I can still recall, as though it were yesterday, complaining bitterly to my early sponsor that nothing seemed to be changing in my life. I was still filled with anxiety. I was still obsessed with what others might be thinking of me. I was still doubting that I'd ever feel like so many of my new companions seemed to feel. Getting up every morning felt like a chore. I was just plain[...]
I was with a group of friends last night and our discussion centered around the attainment of peace. It's illusive, for sure. We can want it desperately and even be living it, but in the blink of an eye the ego can high-jack us into making judgments and all peace is gone. The antidote is to keep turning our judgments over to our Higher Power to whisk them away. If we surrender them[...]
I don't know about you but I never let anyone know who I really was for the first 35 years of my life. I did my darndest to control whatever interpretation you could possibly have of me. I did this by trying to blend in with your opinions. Or remaining quiet if I had no idea what you were talking about. For sure, keeping a low profile in most public settings if there was a chance I'd[...]
I love this simple reminder from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. It has been the perfect response to sponsees who are fretting about their future. And, it is the best reminder I, too, can utilize for my own occasional fretting. I say occasional because I seldom get overwhelmed about the future these days. All I really have to do is take a moment to recall what God has done fo[...]
