I remember hearing the phrase, "We are not a glum lot" when I was new in recovery - I didn't believe it. I mean, here I was sentenced to attending meetings, prohibited from partying, and forced to believe in God. Things looked pretty glum to me. If it wasn't for the laughter I heard in the rooms, I may not have stuck around.
At first I couldn't understand what they found so funny. People would share embarrassing, demoralizing and even tragic experiences, and the room would burst into laughter. "I don't get it," I said to my sponsor. "Those who can laugh at themselves tend to last," he told me. Boy did I find that to be true.
One of the most valuable lessons I've learned in recovery is not to take myself so seriously. I allow myself to make mistakes today, and if I step on someone's toes I'm quick to make amends. Because of this my life is lighter today, and I find it easy to laugh at myself. This not only makes the journey more enjoyable, but it's what's made it last so long, too.
Today I know that those who laugh - last.
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
It's true!! I've said many times throughout my life that I've been blessed with the ability to laugh at myself and realize the absurdity of situations and myself. Of course, this is not always true, and I've found it's when I start taking myself very seriously things get very dark and I start to go off the deep end. Alcohol took my sense of humor away more often than not.. Everything was so bleak. I was at a meeting last night, and this woman was talking about some heavy s**t and she says "i really loved drinking heavily until i turned into an alcoholic" and we all just kinda bust out laughing.. The absurdity and insanity of the statement just struck nearly everyone in the room as hysterical because we GOT what she was saying in a way other people cant. There was this young girl in the room attending her first meeting and she sat next to me, she nervously looked around and let out a nervous giggle but her face was like ' oh goodness, these ladies are NUTS!!'. I gave her my #, and she calls me ( made my day:)I had her laughing her butt off by the end of talk. I truly believe humor can help heal most ailments.
Pappy - great message. Getting serenity is serious work - but being able to finally not take yourself so seriously, and truly laugh at the malady is a wonderful reward! Thanks for the message!
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Thanks for everything. Peace and Love on your journey.
