Just got off the phone with my son who is down again. Then, I read this. Heart hurts. Not in a way that it will close in on itself, but in a way that takes me deeper into that place within us all - the place of compassion - that allows us to be aware of our own intrinsic worth and then the intrinsic worth of our neighbor who might be carrying a burden much greater than ours. Thanks, Jim.

To add a little to this: A recovering alcoholic that I knew many years ago was deeply involved in his AA groups. It was his turn to chair a meeting. The group as I understand it had been going through a stretch of self-pity and comparison. He decided to ask everybody to put on a slip of paper the thing most painful to them in their lives that day and put it into a basket. Then, he passed the basket around again and asked all in the room to pull one slip of paper out and read what had been written aloud. If what was read seemed to be a better life than what anyone in the room had - the person who believed that could say so. If not, they could put their paper back in the basket. Everyone read what they'd picked. Everyone put their slip of paper back into the basket. They all hugged each other warmly and with great affection. Then, they closed the meeting with the Serenity Prayer.

grateful2be wrote:

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To add a little to this: A recovering alcoholic that I knew many years ago was deeply involved in his AA groups. It was his turn to chair a meeting. The group as I understand it had been going through a stretch of self-pity and comparison. He decided to ask everybody to put on a slip of paper the thing most painful to them in their lives that day and put it into a basket. Then, he passed the basket around again and asked all in the room to pull one slip of paper out and read what had been written aloud. If what was read seemed to be a better life than what anyone in the room had - the person who believed that could say so. If not, they could put their paper back in the basket. Everyone read what they'd picked. Everyone put their slip of paper back into the basket. They all hugged each other warmly and with great affection. Then, they closed the meeting with the Serenity Prayer.

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 that was awesome :)

slogan_jim wrote:

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http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2009/05/10/your-neighbor-is-an-alcoholic/#.UhV08ZLVCO8

 

Hey Guys,

I recently came across a blog from a Buddhist Doctor who blogs about self-improvement. One of his entries is called 'Your neighbor is an alcoholic'.

Give it a read.

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 Good read, Jim...Thanks...very interesting...other parts of that site, I enjoyed looking at as well