The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
Merry Christmas from Canada. I wasn't here for a bit. Busy busy. I was back to work for a few months but when the second wave hit, the house I work in went on lockdown again and I was laid off this time. I'm supposed to return to work in January so it was nice to have the holiday season off.
Xmas Eve, I attended a gratitude meeting at work on zoom and that was pretty cool.
Xmas day, I stayed home to make the turkey and some homemade cranberry applesauce and we were able to do a video chat with our daughter on the west coast and exchange gifts via webcam so that was very cool.
Nancy and I had bought each other gifts early and opened them before xmas, but we're old we can do what we want. Nancy bought me a warm winter coat to help with the harsh winter winds up here and I bought her a new set of pots which makes me chuckle because I do most of the cooking here so who did I really get those for?
I just came from an al-anon zoom meeting in my area and it was great to see everyone smiling and happy.
I guess I was feeling grateful for the things in my life and then I remembered all my friends here and thought I should just let you all know that I am grateful for you, also.
Gratitude has been explained to me as not having all the things you want, but wanting all the things you have. know what I mean jellybean.
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Not all my days are priceless, but none of them are worthless, anymore.
Gratitude helps me stay in a positive mental state... and that is especially important now!
Good to see your smiling face, and know all is well with you!
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"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
Thanks Bernie. Gratitude sure does help the perspective be better when I can think of things to be grateful for. Like I am grateful that I am inching forward in my recovery with this back. I am grateful that I finally learned the lesson to pay attention to myself and what I see and what I feel and what I hear etc., just be connected with me and pay attention. So Im grateful though the lesson was hard and severe with this latest injury, I have reconciled myself to accepting that I have to pay attention better to myself. Im grateful that my family are recovering at home and not stuck in a hospital somewhere
I am grateful to be almost through a year where crisis and chaos was the norm. I used to be so ashamed of the chaos and trauma that I grew uo in. Indeed i had some vision that othet people led these calm collected functional lives
This pandemic and the chaos that ensued around it had shown me otherwise. Indeed watching other people refuse to give up partying and congregating has been eye opening. Denial is indeed a very pervasive force.
I have had to scramble a great deal this year. Scramble to move out of my apartment durung a rennovation. Scramble to move back in. There are certain people around who go out of their way to disempowre cause chaos and trash every boundary there is. Knowing when you are around them is so key.
Everyone had certainly struggled this year. Keeping ny head above water has been a constant exercise in motion.
I.worked over Christmas because I am in the middle of another financial challenge. That is a challenge I can meet but it will not be easy. I am lucky to have one or two challenges because ths year I felt like I was drowning in them for so long
Moving to the other side of unexoected illness, financial challenges, being displaced, being attacked verbally repeatedly has been a grear levellor. No wond.
er I felt exhausted defeated and alone. I most certainly was.
I had to gather all my strength and resources to get through it.
I most ceetainly did get to the other side of it. Then I get to look.back and be conscious of what I have accomplished
While I am certainly glad to be moving into a new year I am even more happy that I have renewed strength hope and a passion for living that was hsrd to hold onto in 2020
Good to see you Wolfie and Merry Christmas right back at you! Your holiday sounds lovely and how perfect to be laid off just in time for the holiday season - sounds like a God thing to me...
I too am grateful - I have all that I need and much of what I want. I still am tickled pink when I wake up each day as there was a time that I didn't expect to live this long. I have good health, warm home, food to eat, friends to share with, family I love, car to drive, etc. I truly do feel very, very blessed.
We started our day with fudge for breakfast and then had our meal later. Why not, right? We do not exchange gifts as we both usually get things we want when we want them, making it hard to shop for. We keep things extremely simple and it seems to make the holidays and the season more comfortable for us.
Hope the next year is blessed for you and yours! Hope you have more time to stop by and see us!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
I think I forgot to mention that Thursday (New Years Eve) will be our 21st wedding anniversary so I'm grateful not to have been kicked to the curb yet. :)
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Not all my days are priceless, but none of them are worthless, anymore.
Awesome - Happy Anniversary (early....a rare event for me)!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
Ha.ha.ha.ha.....love the profile photo with the hat!!! Happy New Year to you and yours Wolfie! Keep smiling - looks great on you!
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
Bernie thank you for starting this gratitude thread. I noticed when I am showing more gratitude, I have more to be grateful for and it seems that the energy is just better and lighter and more positive. So today I am grateful that my back is healing to the point where I could dust and sweep and mop my floors and clean my house nice and tidy I tossed some stuff that I dont use anymore, I bathe the dogs, I got a lot of stuff done and I was not sore at all. I am grateful this physical therapy is really helping me with my posture and my general physical well-being. Itll be another six weeks probably before I can 100% use this muscle, but I can do a lot even now but I dont want to push things and so Im grateful that I am staying more in the present and in the moment and paying attention to my body so when I feel any discomfort I back off. I am just really grateful for this program
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Thanks Bernie... and the compliments of the season to y'all...