Days of Healing, Days of Joy


This is for yesterday, but I thought it was SOOooo good that I'd post it anyway!

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.
..........................................................................Paula L.

Many of us adult children think and feel we have nothing to give. Our self-image is so stuck in low self-esteem that we hide from others rather than seek others out, we repress our ideas and opinions rather than express them, we discount our own experience as unworthy of anyones's interest of profit.

But the quality of our lives is determined by the gifts we give. And we do have gifts - gifts that no one else can give. Who understands the binding power of shame better than we do? Who can reach out with more compassion to newcomers who are convinced they are flawed to the core? We can turn the straw of our failed relationships into gold by befriending those who haven't learned yet, as we have learned, how to break the destructive cycle of failure feeding upon failure. We're safe; we know.

Our gifts are precious beyond price. If we are willing to give them, we can change the world.
_________________________
Today, I will stand proud and tall as one who has riches to share.


When I first joined all, I had no self-esteem at all. I'd really hit the bottom of the barrel. The people who befriended me in AA were like angels to me. They didn't care what I had done or who I had hurt - they welcomed me with open arms and in the beginning I had 2 sponsors!!!

Little by little they convinced me I had a reason to be on this earth, contrary to what I had thought. And the more I learned, the more I aspired to be just like them.