April 24

HONESTY MONTH: DAY 24: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” ― Mark Twain

I LOVE this quote! When I write something, I have to stick with believable story-telling. When I write about my life, NONE of it is in the realm of believability!

Why is that? Because there is no room for miracles when you write straight text or, as Mr. Twain posits, in Fiction. And miracles are all over my life, as well as the lives of most of the people I hang out with.

When you look at the lives of the folks who sit around in a recovery meeting, it is amazing when you see all the different faces, different personalities, different types of background – whether it is ethnic, color, sexual identity, socio-economic status, kind of work, kind of family structure, etc.

We are all so different. The chances of us all coming together for even that one hour are incredible! And we do it all the time. Then we begin to find ways of connecting to each other and see that we have been connected, somehow, before that. We have commonalities, apart from our drinking and drugging past, that allow us to connect and relate to one another. That is amazing!

You cannot make up the miraculous aspects of a life lived under the guiding hand of a loving Power, whatever name you may call it by. The stunning coincidental things that bring us together and take us apart and recreate our lives in so many, amazing ways.

I know people who get sober in one city and live there for 30-40 years! WOW! That is astonishing to me! And I have moved around the countryside and travelled all over the place. So, I have known people in one place and seen them come to stay in another, or run into their family members in another place, and so many times, reconnected with them again somewhere else. I LOVE that!

Living in truth is so much greater than anything I could have ever made up. There are wonderful adventures to be had in this wonderful thing. I am busy having them all the time! And I share these things with others so they can know that this is not the unusual, but the usual for my life.

I look for synchronistic events all the time. I am aware and open to them, so they come to me and delight me when they do. I never know what fun and exciting thing is coming up next.

But I will write about it when it does. Probably more than once. I share and share and share. When I lost my voice a few weeks ago, most of those who know me were thrilled. Hahaha…I DO go on, don’t I?

That is why writing is good for me. Can you imagine how much I would talk if I didn’t spend a big part of my morning typing my thoughts?  Yikes!

And Step 4 is always going to be my favorite step. Since the day I got here, it was the one I dreaded the most, and it is the one I go to the most often. Seeing my side of the street keeps me right-sized and in my own shoes. I cannot run down the road with my crazy thinking when I am seeing my part in things. I may not always get there NOW, but I will eventually get there.

Seeing how my crazy brain (ego!) and old ideas are at work is so great! I will always be amazed at how it works, but I love the process of getting there. And the miracles that come from cleaning MY side of the street are astonishing… I am addicted… and I want more, of course!