{"id":3026,"date":"2013-06-13T12:36:07","date_gmt":"2013-06-13T17:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=3026"},"modified":"2013-05-11T12:36:35","modified_gmt":"2013-05-11T17:36:35","slug":"keep-it-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=3026","title":{"rendered":"Keep it simple."},"content":{"rendered":"

I well remember when I first saw the slogan: keep it simple<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0I couldn’t fathom what it actually meant. \u00a0My life was complicated. \u00a0And for good reason it was complicated. \u00a0I was in graduate school at the time and teaching at the University of Minnesota. \u00a0I was in and out of bad relationships and was sent to Al-Anon as a coping strategy for the most recent relationship. \u00a0Like so many of them before, including the 12 year marriage that had ended three years earlier, alcohol was seen as the culprit, someone else’s alcohol use, to be more specific.<\/p>\n

No one had yet looked at mine, except for the psychiatrist a few years earlier. \u00a0He had been fairly certain I was alcoholic, that is until he called a number of my friends at my suggestion who told him they saw no evidence of it. \u00a0Of course, they drank just like I drank. \u00a0He backed off.<\/p>\n

When I sat in that first meeting I was dumbstruck by the laughter, the genuine welcome I was given, and the warmth. \u00a0I doubted their sincerity, of course. \u00a0But it was real. \u00a0At the second meeting I was convinced of how real it was. \u00a0They had meant it when they said, “come back.” \u00a0They remembered my name. \u00a0They were interested in how I was doing. \u00a0Actually, I had no idea how I was doing or what I was supposed to be doing. \u00a0All I knew was that they were kind. \u00a0It was easy to sit there. \u00a0And I kept waiting for them to tell me what I had gone there to learn: the 10 easy steps to stop someone else’s drinking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Now many decades later I am grateful Al-Anon never gave me what I thought I wanted. \u00a0If they had I would not have found it necessary to keep going and the decision to go has made all the difference in what I know to be a life well-lived. \u00a0Keeping it simple, that first slogan I read, is one of the most important tools in my toolbox. \u00a0I keep it simple by trusting that my Higher Power has every thing under control and my help isn’t needed. \u00a0I keep it simple by knowing that I will experience those people, places and situations that have been planned specifically for me. \u00a0I keep it simple by changing only what is mine to change and letting those who journey with me change themselves. \u00a0That last one I sometimes stumble over, yet, but progress is being made. \u00a0Perfection isn’t expected.<\/p>\n

It’s a relief to know that we have all the time we need to find our way. \u00a0God never tires waiting for us. \u00a0Never.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I well remember when I first saw the slogan: keep it simple. \u00a0I couldn’t fathom what it actually meant. \u00a0My life was complicated. \u00a0And for good reason it was complicated. \u00a0I was in graduate school at the time and teaching at the University of Minnesota. \u00a0I was in and out of bad relationships and was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections-in-the-mirror-you-and-yourself","category-your-experience-strength-and-hope"],"yoast_head":"\nKeep it simple. | Karen Casey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=3026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keep it simple. | Karen Casey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I well remember when I first saw the slogan: keep it simple. \u00a0I couldn’t fathom what it actually meant. \u00a0My life was complicated. \u00a0And for good reason it was complicated. \u00a0I was in graduate school at the time and teaching at the University of Minnesota. \u00a0I was in and out of bad relationships and was […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.womens-spirituality.com\/?p=3026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Karen Casey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-13T17:36:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"karencasey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"karencasey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=3026#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=3026\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"karencasey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/be42ec49697eba07d84ddf86ace97639\"},\"headline\":\"Keep it simple.\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-13T17:36:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/?p=3026\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.womens-spirituality.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Reflections in the Mirror - 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