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Monday Thoughts 5/31/2021

“There is always a light.  If only we’re brave enough to see it.  If only we’re brave enough to be it.”  ~~Amanda Gorman

“All recovery roads lead to the ability to love and be loved.”  ~~Nancy Cross

“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”  ~~Maya Angelou

#10 All love given returns.

I am learning to know that I am loved.

Last week I had a meaningful conversation with my sister over the phone. I had reached out to her after hearing some sad news about her eldest and crankiest felines.  After we hung up, I paused, took a deep breath, and reflected on our relationship over the years.  Tears welled up and feelings of gratitude overwhelmed me.  I had just felt Statement #10 running through my senses, touching both our lives.  Without sobriety and recovery, that expressive conversation would not have taken place.

Statement #10, the second of the “Love” Statements in the WFS New Life Program can feel foreign or unfamiliar.  Before sobriety, it can be easy to justify or excuse disconnection and move away from love. Alcohol or drugs become a roadblock to sending love out and swiftly curtail the return of love. Yet, at our core, love is simply who and what we are, and love takes us further into expansion.

As I hung up the phone it occurred to me that love in action; from living in sobriety and recovery to relationships coming full circle is launched and held steady with love.  What love is can look different from every angle, and as it states in our WFS Program booklet, “Love is multifaceted.  It can be shared in many ways.  We can receive love from friends, family, partners, colleagues, spouses, and even pets.  We can experience it through nature, companionship, romance or a sense of loving connection to the world.” Sometimes love looks like openness, and also boundaries.  Love can be tiny, or all encompassing.  Love takes courage, and love needs each of us to bring it to life.

In what different ways do you experience love?

Where has love taken you?

What do you need right now to experience love?

Hugzzz

Karen

Hi 4C Women,

My sister recently sent me letters that I had written her over the years, starting in the late 60s.  Ever since my brother-in-law passed away last month, she has been clearing out stuff.  At first, I did not understand why she was returning my personal letters and yet as she will soon be turning 80, I realize that she wanted to remind me of the loving relationship we shared and honestly, it was such a blessing to read the chapters of my life in my own words.  I wrote a LOT!!!  Some were handwritten and others typewritten.  She included a small note apologizing for not recognizing my sadness as she read every one of those letters before she mailed them. Truthfully, I was lonely.  I missed my family, my friends, my co-workers, my hometown.

I had been married 3 months when my ex and I moved to AL for the first time.  No more going home in a short 2–3-hour drive, no more working in a job that I treasured.  My ex traveled a lot, so it made the isolation even harder to deal with.  We moved often and when the children came along, I sometimes felt I was a single parent.  One time I was so lonely that I put the kids in the car, nothing packed and was ready to drive 15 hours to PA to be with my family.  Fortunately, I regained my senses and we just took a short drive!

When I read those letters, I realized two pivotal changes occurred that turned my life, my loneliness around.  Changes that gave me my voice.  The first was working for the YW whose mission was and still is to eliminate racism and empower women.  If it wasn’t for the YW, I am not sure I would have discovered WFS when I did.  The empowerment I was gaining helped me to learn to love myself and acknowledge that I was worthy of self-love.

I am so grateful for WFS and the dear friends I have made and the strong support system I built and so desperately needed.    I found life changing sobriety and a passion of caring for those women I have been privileged to meet and watch their emotional and personal growth.  I can say I have embraced the knowledge of experiencing Statement #10 to its fullest.  I have given love and truly feel that I am loved.

Who is part of your support system?

Bonded in giving love and knowing that you are loved, Dee

Please donate online at https://womenforsobriety.org or you can mail a check to WFS, P.O. Box 618, Quakertown, PA  18951 with a note that the funds are for the Teddy Bear Challenge.

All donors thru June 8, 2021, will be entered into the drawing for a doll, unless otherwise noted.