I was at an AA meeting last night and a young woman with a handful of years shared the above acronym: w.a.i.t. Why am I talking? It really stopped me in my tracks. It's one I had never heard in all my years on this journey and I needed to hear it. I know I talk more than I listen; to God and to everyone else too. In the stillness are the answers to every thing. In the stillness I will find the peace my soul desires and deserves. In the stillness my heart finds rest. Thank you, dear Jenny for the wisdom. We never know when we will hear just what[...]
Category
Karen’s Musings
4 I found that remembering and then writing about my past, particularly the parts that were grim or embarrassing or sometimes even shameful; released me from their hold. We cannot be held hostage by any thing or any one without our consent. That’s not an easy idea to believe when first introduced to it. I had never ever thought of “hostage” in those terms. But I was a hostage for sure. I lived in the shame of my past for many years. And telling all of it, every last part of it to any one any where seemed fool-hardy. Just the opposite is true, in[...]
Welcoming the new year means saying good-by to 2011. That inspires me to pause and consider some of the experiences of this past year that stand out in my mind. Are there some I'd love to repeat? Were there times I didn't live up to my "better self?" Did I make commitments to finish certain projects but didn't follow through? Did I develop some new ideas that were tucked away for a later date? Did I show up in a loving way with friends and family? Did I reach out to new faces and comfort old ones too? Did I let others down at any time? Let me brea[...]
I thoroughly enjoy Christmas. I know it isn't an easy holiday for many, and for legitimate reasons. A number of my friends are always eager for the holidays to be over. But it's always my intent to bring a bit of joy into the lives of the many I touch. I have discovered that's the easiest way to insure that I have a joyful Christmas, in fact. And just possibly my "touch" will lighten the holiday for some one else too, even some one who doesn't want to enjoy the holiday. It heightens my inner joy every time I offer the hand of kindness or make a joyful[...]
No doubt we can all remember the song of that title: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. And it's likely we have all experienced the trauma of it happening to us. I am presently watching, with a supportive eye, open arms and a loving heart, a very dear friend pick her way carefully through the many brambles of a relationship gone bad. It's an ending that very much needed to happen but it's not easy to execute, regardless. Or experience. Breaking up is simply never easy. Yet it's often necessary, sometimes even life-preserving. In the work I have been doing for[...]
Many of my friends dread this time of year. Holidays were painful in many families, for sure. I've talked about this topic in the past, both the bright side of the holidays as well as the painful side, I know; but I feel called in my work to talk about changing one's attitude and I think this particular holiday is one that can serve as an opportunity for thousands, even millions of people to look with fresh eyes and an open heart at the meaning beneath the glitz of the season. I'm convinced that the holidays, which ever one you celebrate, are a way to conne[...]
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Thanksgiving is just around the corner. . .
I am so glad we are approaching the holiday season. I know not everyone is. Many of my friends dread it because it brings up bad memories. I have a lot of lousy memories from my past too but none of them cling to the revelry my family enjoyed around the holidays. Perhaps we put aside our differences, our myriad reasons for arguing about every topic that normally triggered us, and just absorbed, for a few weeks, the magic that the holiday season promised. We didn't have a lot of extra money as a family but we did have rituals that I treasured and they bega[...]
Within the past few weeks, three friends have died. The first one was the elderly mother of my best friend. I had known her for many years, of course. And while it was true that she had many health challenges, and deserved to be quietly at peace; it was still with great sadness that I said my good byes. I would have to say that I felt even greater sadness for her family. Even though, they, like all of us, knew Audrey deserved to be free of her frail, restricted body, her tenderness and gentle spirit had remained very much alive until the very end. Many[...]
My husband and I just returned to our winter residence in Florida. Each time we have made this trek south, I have done so with mixed feelings. I love MN. I feel very attached to both family and friends there. I got sober there. Met my husband there. My sponsor is there. But now I am here. For 21 years we have moved between the two locations. It's not that the move is fraught with problems. Not at all. It's just that until I get reconnected on this end, I am like a fish out of water. Slightly depressed. A bit lost. Not entirely comfortable[...]
My husband and I received very sad news over the week end about the passing of another good friend. Tom was in long-term recovery. In fact, he had just celebrated 32 years of sobriety. I last saw him a few weeks ago at our party for Joe's 70th birthday. Joe had seen him just 2 days before he apparently died. No one really knows the details because Tom lived alone. He had not shown up at an AA meeting he regularly attended and a friend called to see if he was okay. Getting no answer, the friend did what we often do. He drove over to Tom's house. With[...]