“…This was a good blog but I think you raised another very important question. Can we have and possibly share gratitude during life’s storms?”
Lucy from In These Rooms
Possibly, when we know who we are. The better or deeper question, Lucy, is: What is the storm showing me about who I am, who I’ve been and where I am on this journey called life? Problems, pain, struggles, conflict, trouble, the shit we suffer from and the adversity we struggle with, all this comes to introduce us to ourselves. What people In These Rooms describe as “character defects…” are the difficulties we have in accepting that our struggles are designed to teach us and show us about ourselves and who we are.
I hear people In These Rooms say “…I am not that same person anymore. I’m a totally different person. I am not the same person who did that shit anymore. I’m out of my own will now…” My response is, really? What is different today? That same person went on to say “…My number one goal in life today is to stay sober…” Oh, okay. So, because of this new goal you have for your life to stay sober, you get to be exempted from the wreckage of the past that brought your ass In These Rooms in the first goddamn place? Give me a fucking break.
I had this guy the other day talking about how good his life was going and his business was doing. He said he enjoyed this success because the good work he was doing hiring people from this program. I inquired about the details and listened as he outlined what amounted to a roofing scam. This guy is one of the same people In These Rooms who talks about “…stuff and money doesn’t make you happy…” when in fact he is one of the same MF’s who is in the front of the line chasing material shit. Give me a fucking break.
I can’t make the claim I’m not the MF that did all the wrong shit and wreckage in my past. But I can say and do believe I am in a better place for being In These Rooms and working this program. I sit here and pen these words. There is nothing I am ashamed of from my past any longer because today I believe everything that has happened to me or I have done is of value for the work in this moment God is calling me to today. I don’t have to make wild ass and ridiculous claims about not being that person anymore because I remember in the words of Psalm 139:14” … I have been fearfully and wonderfully made…” When I remember Psalm 8:4-5, I smile as I read the words “…what is man that thou are mindful of us? Or, human beings that you care for us? You created us a little lower than the angels and crowned us with glory and honor…” Keeping it one hundred, I feel this way today because I’ve not only found a purpose for the wreckage of my past. I have also found a way to monetize that shit (smile). Like I said, keeping it one hundred.
“Can we have and possibly share gratitude in the midst of life’s storms?”
Lucy from In These Rooms
“…This is hard to accept. I want to fix things and people. When trouble comes, I used to want to fix or blame somebody…
Yalie
“…Struggle is like breathing. It’s a natural part of what it means to be human and more importantly alive…”
the Professor
“…Conflict and adversity, this is life, this is Story. This is learning to be the heroic people God created us to be. Struggle serves to remind us we are and who we choose to become…”
Hunter
Promise 1 of the Big Book In These Rooms states “…We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness…” Being grateful only when you can enumerate all the good shit in your life you have to say grace over, that ain’t Promise 1. That ain’t a new freedom. That ain’t a new happiness. Who couldn’t or wouldn’t do that shit?
“…Sweet are the uses of adversity, which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head; and this our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything…”
William Shakespeare
I have found this New Freedom, this New Happiness to be in those very moments when the worst of times are the best of times. Can we have and possibly share gratitude amid storms? I have found the capacity to do this in focusing on and being committed to gratitude and greatness found in my “in spite of” dreams. I’ve found this capacity to be greatest when I stopped being concerned about and focusing on miracles and rewards. This is Promise 1. This is my story and I am sticking the fuck to it. This is Living WHY.
Read more about Hunter and tell your story. Listen to Hunter’s Podcast. All on wreckedamerica.com. In Wrecked America, #LivingWHYMatters
The Struggle Continues….
