I'm beat. Bushed. Wiped out.
The past two days have been hectic. On top of that, I'm speaking Saturday at the monthly fellowship for the local district of Al-Anon Family Groups. I'm squirreling away parcels of time, preparing for that occasion, also.
There are other pressures I'm wrestling with, as well. And such a life is the case for most of us.
We are often overwhelmed with all the responsibilities doled out to us. It helps to take life fifteen minutes at a time. This is being present.
We'll know more serenity. It comes with living by recovery principles. At times we need to HALT.
The good thing is, we can still be happy, delighted with life, when pressured. Joy isn't externally related. It is not based upon the job we have, being in a relationship, the type of car we drive or how we are doing financially."Fear makes true that which one is afraid of." Viktor Frankl.
Our happiness is not because our circumstances change. We change.
This is the difference between surviving and thriving----enjoying life deeply with joy, knowing how to have a peace that transcends our difficulties.
One outlet is ex-ercise. Going for a walk, cycling, work-ing out with weights, or doing yoga. When we do, stress is released from our bodies.
Keeping ourselves active, there will be no need for a windbreaker or vest on cool days.
Despite the pressures faced, we can still be happy and thrive. And no, we won't be crazy.
Helping others overcome trauma is traumatic for me. This is where acceptance with recovery is the balm for healing the difficulties we experience. It is not passivity, taking what comes our way.
Awareness is clear-headedness, seeing our circum-stances, accurately. Then, we decide our options---what can be done to overcome our challenges.
Staying in the solution regard-ing our fears, troubles, and anxieties, transforms our daily quota of betes noires. They become approachable, less frightening. Our character grows, our life becomes manageable, our joy increases.
We move from the ghetto of child-like responses to won-drous valleys of emotional maturity.
1. Perseverance, the fruit of physical exer-cise and maintaining spiritual disciplines. It helps us to draw strength from our relationship with God.
We are happier, we celebrate life, even when the storms of urban living shower us with ongoing pressure.
Growth requires going beyond our comfort zones. It is realizing our limitations and appropriating a Power Greater Than Ourselves. Doing this, we are seizing life.
Life is richer when we move beyond our limited understanding. Inspirational literature helps us mature and become wiser. We gain a wider perspective.
2. For writing. It provides mental clarity. This is especially true when we do an inventory of our lives.
We empty what percolates within. Scribing is self-care, it is making time to get acquainted with our inner selves.
3. Daily working on our recovery makes us grow. We will be stronger than we were last week, more level-headed. We handle challenges more successfully than we did a few months ago.
Working on our personal growth daily, life becomes more dynamic.
Our days become more fulfilling with each passing month, day, hour, each minute. Recovery helps us move from being reactive to having greater executive functioning. When we work on ourselves, "each character flaw [is] replaced by a new and good quality." (One Day at a Time, p. 280)
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