Love or hate? Gratitude or self-pity?
Today I am grateful for recliner time this morning, a walk with Darcy last evening, and for electricity which makes it so much easier to do so many things.
A few days ago some recovery friends and I were talking about gratitude. It's a regular topic this time of the year, but also throughout the year. We were also talking about control issues. All people have some control issues. It's human nature. They are a slippery slope for people in recovery though, and can lead us back to drinking if we aren't careful.
I control my attitude and actions, my own input and output. I don't control you or the outcomes. So I should spend my energy focusing on my own effort and attitude.
I have a choice each day, each hour. Healthy thoughts and actions and seeking guidance from a trusted Great Spirit and trusted friends and family. The last year has brought new challenges. Being in my fifties has brought new challenges. These call for new levels of acceptance, tolerance, love.
I wrote about this last week in my post Ongoing Challenge.
A key lesson from my early months and years of gratitude practice is this: I can't feel sorry for myself and grateful at the same time. Which one will I choose? It is a lesson as important in my life today as it was when I first realized I could change my brain's default mode with the right exercises and daily effort.
When I am seeking gratefulness, I am loving myself and the world around me. When I am full of self-pity, I am a hater in my mind and heart. Mostly of myself, but that certainly impacts how I treat others.
So I close with this wisdom from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
A few days ago some recovery friends and I were talking about gratitude. It's a regular topic this time of the year, but also throughout the year. We were also talking about control issues. All people have some control issues. It's human nature. They are a slippery slope for people in recovery though, and can lead us back to drinking if we aren't careful.
I control my attitude and actions, my own input and output. I don't control you or the outcomes. So I should spend my energy focusing on my own effort and attitude.
I have a choice each day, each hour. Healthy thoughts and actions and seeking guidance from a trusted Great Spirit and trusted friends and family. The last year has brought new challenges. Being in my fifties has brought new challenges. These call for new levels of acceptance, tolerance, love.
I wrote about this last week in my post Ongoing Challenge.
A key lesson from my early months and years of gratitude practice is this: I can't feel sorry for myself and grateful at the same time. Which one will I choose? It is a lesson as important in my life today as it was when I first realized I could change my brain's default mode with the right exercises and daily effort.
When I am seeking gratefulness, I am loving myself and the world around me. When I am full of self-pity, I am a hater in my mind and heart. Mostly of myself, but that certainly impacts how I treat others.
So I close with this wisdom from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
"I have decided to stick to love... Hate is too great a burden to bear."
The burdens of self-pity and hate? The blessings of grateful living and love?
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