January 29

ACCEPTANCE MONTH: DAY 29: “Have a big enough heart to love unconditionally, and a broad enough mind to embrace the differences that make each of us unique.” ― D.B. Harrop

This is the challenge I live into each and every day. I want to be this person. It is a goal I strive to achieve and some days I do better than others.

I am better, each day I choose mindfulness about my personal prejudices and not participating in judgment of others. I do not know the journey YOU are here to live. I don’t even know my own. I just get to put one foot in front of the other and hope that if I step in quicksand (I have and probably will again!); you will be here to hold out a stick I can grab it and pull myself out.

We are all going to bump into others who we are uncomfortable with. They are here to teach us. They are here to show me the mirror of who I am, and help me find those things in me that are not what I am happy with. I can see it in them much faster than I can see it in me.

That is their role, they are my teachers. They bring me gifts I do not know I need or want, but they are here to show me what is needed.

I don’t always like what I see, but it is never unnecessary. That I learn each moment, each day. I get to embrace the lessons or deny them; but they will come and show me who I am. When I see something or someone who is particularly offensive to me, I must own what they show me.

If I admire someone who is part of my life, it challenges me to become more of that. I am feeling my own sense of greatness and wanting to live more fully into that greatness.

My heroes (and there are actually quite a few!) are often humble and quiet. I am everything but humble and quiet, so I know that my soul longs for me to be that at times. I also know that I was told to shut my mouth and hold my temper for so many years that I am not likely to do stay quiet for long. Humble is a good thing, but my silence hurt me for too long. So, I will talk and say what I need to say.

This is my voice, these writings. They are about the things that I have discovered in practicing a 12-step recovery process in my battered and broken life. The miraculous healing that takes place as I work through these things is my message.

It may not be what you want to hear, but it is for someone. That is what I have learned. That we all have something to share with someone. I hope I never forget.

May I love a little deeper today and share it more freely than I did the day before. May I walk closer to the spirit of the person I most long to be. May I align myself with the goodness of those who have taught me and inspired me and loved me into this space…and, btw…thanks for the sticks!