Which Direction?
Living things move. Occasionally inanimate objects move too but mostly they wait to be acted upon by living things, volcanoes and earthquakes notwithstanding. Even those living things that are rooted or fixed to a set point like trees or barnacles still move. What about people? Seems people are moving faster all the time but which direction are they moving? Much of human movement is in circles of varying sizes. Kinda reminds me of Pooh and Piglet following tracks in the
On Curve Balls and Bean Balls
Baseball, the American past-time. More so in years past than today, baseball has provided some of our most interesting characters and heroes and villains. It has also given us some memorable quotes and descriptive terms. Yogi Berra provided us with such memorable lines as “You can observe a lot by watching.” “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” And the ever insightful, "It ain't over till it's over". Leo Durocher is credited with astutely observing that “Baseba
Diamonds in the Dung
OK, I can be intense. I know that. But sometimes my passion gets me in trouble when I let it get out of hand and run roughshod over people or attempt to “win” in a discussion by having the last word. I recently did both in one evening. At least I didn’t engage in an ad hominem attack and make it perfect trifecta. Predictably, someone took me to task the following morning in a rather scathing text message. It was complete with impugned motives, personal attack and even so
A Season of Laying Fallow
I have been fallow for a while. Occasionally a person needs a season of diminished productivity, lying fallow. This, of course, is an agricultural term for a field that is left untilled or planted to allow it to rest and rejuvenate. I am at the end of one such season and so I offer some observations. Lying fallow is difficult. In western culture we are so programmed for productivity and constantly bombarded with demands and an endless stream of activities that it is reall
The Past – Reject, Relive or Remember
Among other things, Mae West humorously observed, “Women like a man with a past, but they prefer a man with a present.” More recently the American humorist Evan Esar noted that, “The girl with a future avoids a man with a past.” Seriously, what do we do with the past? More specifically what do we do with our own past? I’ve been pondering this of late and came up with three things we tend to do with our past; reject it, relive it or remember it. For some the past is so pain
Embracing Normal
Having over indulged our entire lives, sobriety can be dull, quite frankly. When everything in your life has been over the top or out on the thin edge, living inside the boundaries can seem pretty lackluster. I understand this. But part of our acting out was the drama of making the score whatever that might be so it only stands to reason that putting all that aside will make life a bore. But it’s a bore we can and must make our peace with. To truly be successful in our re
When Life Overwhelms You
I have a quote at the bottom of my emails, "I try to take one day at a time, sometimes several days attack me at once." ~ Anonymous. It happens to all of us. Sometimes it’s our fault, sometimes it’s just life. Either way such seasons of our lives can be challenging especially if you are a person in recovery trying to establish a balance to your life and stay on track. Of course, the mantra of recovery is that we take life one day at a time. Often close conversations with
Out of the Doldrums. . .
In the age of sails, crossing the equator was a treacherous thing. You risked the extremes of squalls, thunderstorms and hurricanes or worse, no wind at all. More than one vessel spent days or weeks caught in The Doldrums, languishing in the sweltering heat of the equatorial sun, praying for a breath of wind. “Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge describes the Doldrums thus in
Making The Hard Choices
There’s a great scene toward the end of A League of Their Own where Gina Davis’ character is preparing to leave the team before the season’s over. She tells Tom Hank’s character, “It just got too hard.” Tom Hank’s character leans in and responds with this classic line, “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” I understand they are talking about baseball but their words aptly describe change and the reason why so
Filling The Void
Change initially creates a void. Whether you are making life changes to achieve a particular goal or recovering from an addictive behavior or taking steps to move your life forward to what you believe is the next level, you will experience a void. Old behaviors and the friendships associated with them have filled your life and your time for years, so when you begin to change your behaviors your circle of friends will change along with them. As friends and family linked to