It has been suggested to me from many sources lately that perhaps I need to say "no" on occasion when asked to speak or be of service in some other way. It's not that I resist the idea but at the time of any invitation, whether it's to speak at a meeting, visit with a sponsee, travel across country to do a workshop, or participate in a social activity; I always want to say yes. It never feels, at the time of the invitation, that no is an option I want to take. However, I am rethinking this for a number of reasons. One is that I have felt really exhausted[...]
2 There's really no one explanation why we feel "on top of the world" some days and not others. Today is one of my mediocre days. It started out great. I had breakfast with a friend and her guests who were visiting from Omaha. We had a delightful conversation, very engaging in fact. However, when I got home I resisted doing any thing. I looked over the workshop I am presenting on the sacred moment this week end in PA and then simply sat, looking first at one magazine and then another. I wasn't engaged in any of them or ironically, the sacred moment ei[...]
A woman I have not actually met wrote to me recently in regard to one of my posts that dealt with my physical pain. It's not easy to live with pain of any kind but it does help to talk about it, as I did in that post, and to get feed-back from others who understand. The pain is miraculously lessened when we do this even if we have different kinds of conditions. The "shared experience" simply makes whatever we are undergoing more tolerable. It's not that misery loves company but rather, just knowing that someone else cares and is "holding us up" toward a pl[...]
I was honored at a Recovery luncheon today sponsored by Hazelden Foundation. The luncheon was held here in Naples, FL but it was in response to the work I have done for more than three and a half decades as the result of my own recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon. As I stood before the audience to accept my award, I could barely see through the tears as they flowed. How did this happen? All I can surmise is that it happened because of God's plan for my life. That first drink at age 13 started me down a path that has landed me in the most beauti[...]
For the fifth time in a year I am getting prepared to let a friend transition to the "home" we will all head to one day. She has been a very dear friend ever since she moved to Naples, where I spend seven months a year. We have shared many meetings, many movies, many meals, and many laughs over the past fifteen years. And to imagine our circle without her is difficult, very difficult. She simply was always present, sharing her experience, her strength and her hope with others. And there were hundreds she helped. I am so grateful that I believe in a "next[...]
I read a passage in a book this morning that suggested we should seek undisturbed tranquility. I have been thinking about that passage on and off all morning. For certain, I desire undisturbed tranquility. Don't you? The book went on to say that seeking to know the peace of God in each moment was the path to this undisturbed tranquility. What that means to me is remembering to remember God's presence, moment by moment. When my mind is focused there, nothing ruffles my tranquility. Why is tranquility even important? Perhaps it's not to every one bu[...]
I have needed to change my focus with great intention, lately. That's because I have been dealing with chronic pain for many months, for more than two years, actually. And it may be a condition that will remain unchangeable. I have not ignored the options for dealing with it. I have received radio frequency ablation to no avail. I have had many steriod shots too . I have done physical therapy and acupuncture. But the pain persists. My solution, today, is to place my attention on Spirit. Not body. What I am discovering is that changing my focus s[...]
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[...]
I am recommitting to this idea, paraphrased from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, because, frankly, I keep forgetting that my lack of acceptance is the root of my "dis-ease." I read a passage from a related spiritual book this morning that ever so gently reminded me that when I am judging, thus not embracing the soul standing before me, I am caught in the clutches of separation which is the hallmark of my disease. Perhaps your disease too. My emotional health and spiritual well being demand that I embrace our Oneness. Embrace it within the only moment[...]
Over this past week I was a co-leader of a 3 day workshop in Naples. The program included a phenomenal group of women and my co-facilitator was a phenomenal teacher. I even got many "take-aways," a gift I hadn't expected, actually. Since both Jill (Kelly) and I teach writing groups, I had made an assumption that "my way" was a very good way, maybe the best way. However, doing a few of her exercises intertwined with a few of mine made the program richer in every way, for us and for the participants. The main point of this is that I got another dose of[...]