July 14

PATIENCE MONTH: DAY 14: “If the Spirit of God has given you a vision of what you are apart from the grace of God, your view of others will be seen through the Len’s of love, patience, and compassion.”― John M. Sheehan

Because we have been so far away from a spiritual path on our way here, we are more often going to be welcoming and accepting to those who walk in with a history of bad behavior and anti-social attitudes. I know I felt way more comfortable with the groups in the rooms when I heard some of their stories. I met a few folks in my first weeks that made me feel right at home because they were the same people I had been running with but they talked about how much they were changing their shit.

I could see it for the most part and loved that they were so accepting and kind to me. I had a lot of attitude and questions…you can only imagine how I was then! And they kept talking to me and giving me rides to meetings and so many other things. I still acted badly for a while and that was accepted too. I eventually got it that it was up to me if I wanted to stick around or not. Okay. Someone I liked (very handsome, so you get that!) gave me a button and I still have it. It says, “Work the Steps or Die Motherfucker.” Perfect. Spoke to me in my language.

And I have never looked back, except when I worked on steps that required it. I changed everything as quickly as I could. I wanted to be on the recovery side of this thing right away. Patience took a long time for me, but thank God for the patience of those who got to know my newcomer self. I was a train wreck and you all loved me anyway. That is awesome and I will continue to give that back as much as I can forever.