Some memes

practice love and acceptance and help someone else on their recovery journey. as i was leaving my home group headed home to chill and get ready to go sell cigars, one of the men at the meeting texted me and asked for me to give him a call. he has some clean time, but very little experience in recovery and some stuff that was shared at the meeting brought down a wave of emotion that floored him. he started off the conversation, asking how to handle that sort of even and i said share it with someone you trust. i guess today, i was on the top of that list. he is still uncertain about talking to other members when we break up after the meeting and start our post-meeting chit chat, but it does not matter, i asked him to share what he felt with me and he did. i believe i was kind and allowed him the freedom to express his feelings and in that moment, i remembered times when i was “triggered” by what someone shared that unlocked feelings i had yet to process in recovery.
well not my best start as fat fingers saved this entry long before it was written. that is what i get when i am trying to do more than one piece of computer work at a time. a human foible for sure and one that i often fall prey to.
i do remember days when i feelings from my past threatened to overwhelm me and give me an excuse to pick up. i also remember the kindness of my peers and yes my sponsor who guided me through to the other side. clean. that is what i was hoping to repeat this morning on my drive home, being present enough to listen, empathize and suggest a way forward. i do not know how ell i succeeded but after the call ended a few of my strong memories of grief came barreling up from the pits. what i did with them, was to acknowledge them as accurate and real and allow myself the freedom to feel them. i survived them once again and i will continue to thrive as a result. my friend and peer? i hope i gave him enough of me to get him through the act of processing his feelings and coming out on the other side clean.

∞ DT ∞