For some reason, I always had trouble being nice to myself. I was my own worst critic, which I suppose was derived from a deep lack of self-worth, of never being enough. Once in codependent recovery, I learned my way out of that…mostly. But you’re never done, right? I still stumble on some of the deeper-set stones in my path. They don’t throw me off the path anymore, but I might still stub my toe, feel some sharp pain. Thankfully this is a program for life; and I just keep learning.
Read MoreAfghanistan being rebuilt from the inside out
On April 23, 2017, I left Seattle for a vacation to Japan, a country I had always wanted to visit. Flying into Osaka, I zipped across land on the Shinkansen (the infamous Bullet Train) to Hiroshima to meet up with my long-time Canadian friend, Shona, who was teaching and mentoring for her 7th year in a program sponsored by the United Nation’s Institute for Training & Research (UNITAR), the Fellowship for Afghanistan. I was going to sightsee, of course, but also to observe some of the sessions in the two-week long intensive course provided to 30 Afghan Fellows at the end of their six-month program.
12 Days of Christmas Inspire Goal Setting
So this year I was thinking about a new approach to goal-setting. Especially as it relates to self-responsibility, something folks in any recovery program are familiar with as an important topic. I thought about the 12 Days of Christmas tradition, which means a loved one receives one gift a day for the 12 days preceding Christmas. If I was to turn the idea of that from a gift into a goal, and the 12 days into 12 months, I could come up with looking at 2018 as a year to bring myself into further alignment by taking responsibility for things I wouldn’t want others to have to deal with if something happened to me.
Actually…Who Knew? 10 Things My Mom Got Right
When I was a rebellious child and teen, my mother wasn’t right about anything that related to me. She thought she was, but she wasn’t.
Now that I’m in my 50s, it turns out she actually was right. Unfortunately, she didn’t live long enough for me to get it and acknowledge it to her. So sorry, Mom. I hope my daughter gets it before I’m gone, but if she doesn’t, well, it will probably just serve me right.
Read MorePlaying Solitaire with God: Lessons on Asking & Receiving
I don’t naturally enjoy working out in a gym. But, I’m doing it more now, along with other healthy things. I gravitate toward times when the gym is otherwise quiet. One day recently I took my iPad along and propped it up in front of the screen that keeps you up to date on your workout. I’m always looking for ways to distract myself from the lack of oxygen and joint pain that comes along with a lengthy elliptical workout, and I thought maybe playing games would help.
Seeking Your New Story: Facing Your Inner Narrator
I always know there’s a post formulating when I have multiple conversations in a short period of time on the same subject. This week, it was three conversations in less than 24 hours, and they were all about the stories we tell ourselves.
Are You Ready?
So, Suzanne, what are you ready for?
The woman I’d just met on Skype blinked and waited for my response. I blinked back at her, and frowned. Then I suddenly felt a wave of something…relief, or freedom…? Or…? I don’t know, but it was big. She was asking me a legitimate question, and perhaps the most critical question I could ask myself, not just at this moment, but every day.
I’m Sorry…But
The famous line from the ’70s movie Love Story was Love means never having to say you’re sorry. I’m sorry, but what horse poo that was! A more appropriate line might be love means knowing when you need to say you’re sorry and having the cojones to do it. I realize that’s not as elegant sounding, but it rings a lot truer to me.
Mind Your Own Business…No, Really
The other dayI had a flashback to when I was about 13, all full of teen-girl hormones and unpredictable rages. I was on about some girl at school and her attitude and how she was mean to other girls and I really…My mom, making beef stew at the stove and a little hot and grumpy herself turned to me and said, “Really! Why don’t you just mind your own business?”
Just the Way You Are: Demonstrations of Unconditional Love
We can do this now. A video we make of a gesture can find and touch millions of hearts, as this video did when it was posted on Facebook six months ago. A man asks a choir to sing Bruno Mars’ hit song Just the Way You Are to his wife on their anniversary. His wife, as it happens, is chair-ridden from advanced multiple sclerosis. He does this because he wants, he needs, her to know how cherished she is, and he needs to do it in some undeniable, public way.
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