December 8, 2014

Quote of the Week

"If you can't learn to laugh at yourself, we'll do it for you..."

Oh how serious everything was when I entered recovery. Overwhelmed by the problems I'd created, a home life that was in shambles, unemployed and unemployable, I didn't find very many things funny. But the people in the rooms sure did. I often sat in amazement as one after another would share what seemed like horrible experiences of things they'd done or that had happened to them, while the room roared with laughter! What's wrong with these people, I'd think? 

The way that people were able to laugh and make fun of the things they had done made me uncomfortable to say the least. Still filled with the secret shame of my own experiences and thoughts, I was much too self conscious to share, and was still sure that if you knew what I had done, then you'd banish me from the rooms and I'd have no where to go. Once again, I felt trapped. 

As I worked my way through the steps and my life started to improve, I soon found myself identifying and laughing right along with everyone else. In fact, after a while I had enough distance and perspective on my life that I could even begin to see the humor in some of the situations my own warped way of thinking had gotten me into. 

I found I had developed compassion and empathy for myself, and this allowed me to laugh again - and what a gift that's been...