Don't take storms personally
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Join Date: Aug 2002
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Don't take storms personally
This is today's reading from Hazelden and it was just PERFECT for me today:
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Don't take storms personally.
Somewhere out in the Pacific, a storm brewed and swirled and thrashed and died without ever touching the land. Three days, later, under a clear blue sky, the storm surge reached the California coast near Los Angeles. The sea threw rocks at my house, and the waves stacked up and crashed down against the pilings of the foundation. Farther up the street, the ocean ate the back porch of two houses. All night the shoreline trembled and shook from the power of the sea.
The next morning the tide pulled back, the swells calmed, and the sky stayed blue. I walked down the beach, impressed at the way the ocean had littered it with huge chunks of driftwood and rocks. Then I walked back upstairs and drank my morning coffee.
Sometimes storms aren't about us.
Sometimes, friends or loved ones will attack us for no apparent reason. They'll fuss, fume, and snap at us. When we ask them why, they'll say, "Oh I'm sorry. I had a bad day at work." But we still feel hurt and upset.
Hold people accountable for their behavior. Don't let people treat you badly. But don't take the storms in their lives personally. These storms may have nothing to do with you.
Seek shelter if necessary. Get away from curt friends until they have time to calm down; then approach when it's safe. If the storm isn't about you, there's nothing you need to do. Would you try to stop the ocean waves by standing in the surf with your arms outstretched?
God, help me not to take the storms in the lives of my friends and loved ones too personally.
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Don't take storms personally.
Somewhere out in the Pacific, a storm brewed and swirled and thrashed and died without ever touching the land. Three days, later, under a clear blue sky, the storm surge reached the California coast near Los Angeles. The sea threw rocks at my house, and the waves stacked up and crashed down against the pilings of the foundation. Farther up the street, the ocean ate the back porch of two houses. All night the shoreline trembled and shook from the power of the sea.
The next morning the tide pulled back, the swells calmed, and the sky stayed blue. I walked down the beach, impressed at the way the ocean had littered it with huge chunks of driftwood and rocks. Then I walked back upstairs and drank my morning coffee.
Sometimes storms aren't about us.
Sometimes, friends or loved ones will attack us for no apparent reason. They'll fuss, fume, and snap at us. When we ask them why, they'll say, "Oh I'm sorry. I had a bad day at work." But we still feel hurt and upset.
Hold people accountable for their behavior. Don't let people treat you badly. But don't take the storms in their lives personally. These storms may have nothing to do with you.
Seek shelter if necessary. Get away from curt friends until they have time to calm down; then approach when it's safe. If the storm isn't about you, there's nothing you need to do. Would you try to stop the ocean waves by standing in the surf with your arms outstretched?
God, help me not to take the storms in the lives of my friends and loved ones too personally.
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In my little piece of heaven
Posts: 2,870
I just returned from a memorial service for my mom. She died a few weeks ago after only a few days in hospice, but we scheduled the memorial so that out of town relatives would have time to make their travel arrangements etc.
It was a difficult yet lovely time. We laughed a lot more than we cried, and we were all able to let the little things go. My mom's sister had lost her only son the week before to a heart attack / cancer... so she and my cousins had a lot of pain and grief to work thru.
There could have been some blow ups and ugly words, but there were not. One girlfriend who attended had a spat with her boyfriend and spent a good part of the day back at the hotel sleeping. There was a time I would have been angry and insulted by that action. Today, I can see where she was doing what she needed to do to take care of herself, and it wasn't about me. It seemed all of us recognized that the storm was bigger than any of us. I thank God for my recovery program, which allowed me to take care of myself and feel my feelings and not take things personally.
That reminds me of what my angel sponsor used to tell me all the time: "honey, he's not doing it TO you, he's just doing it."
It was a difficult yet lovely time. We laughed a lot more than we cried, and we were all able to let the little things go. My mom's sister had lost her only son the week before to a heart attack / cancer... so she and my cousins had a lot of pain and grief to work thru.
There could have been some blow ups and ugly words, but there were not. One girlfriend who attended had a spat with her boyfriend and spent a good part of the day back at the hotel sleeping. There was a time I would have been angry and insulted by that action. Today, I can see where she was doing what she needed to do to take care of herself, and it wasn't about me. It seemed all of us recognized that the storm was bigger than any of us. I thank God for my recovery program, which allowed me to take care of myself and feel my feelings and not take things personally.
God, help me not to take the storms in the lives of my friends and loved ones too personally.
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Cats...I have not been here since last night and just now got a chance to read email. I read todays thought for the day and said ...wow, with all I have been reading around here recently and the pain, I think others will get as much out of this reading as I have. I've done "copy" just not "paste" yet and glanced down page one of posting...You beat me too it and I'm so glad you did! Now more people had the opportunity to share this message today.
Holding you close in my thoghts and prayers during these difficult times
Holding you close in my thoghts and prayers during these difficult times
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