mary poppins

Well, my tests came back ... "practically perfect in every way." I have always tested well though. The one thing that was slightly off was my thyroid, so I started some new meds on Friday which may or may not be the miracle cure I'm needing. Here's hoping for "may"! But at least the long weekend gave me some much needed rest.

I had a sponsee ask me this weekend, "how do you take step 3?" She understood it conceptually, but struggled in its application. I told her that it's difficult to really put it into words, but the best way for me to describe how I do it is to apply it to specific situations, like I do with the serenity prayer (identifying the things I cannot change, identifying the things I can, and then taking action towards changing what I can and accepting what I cannot). We talked about various decisions she is faced with each day and how she can pause and ask herself before any of them, "what would God want me to do?"

I suggested possibly posting sticky notes in various places to remind her - in the car, "how would God want me to drive?" At work, "how would God want me to handle this?" She recognized that when she bothered to consult, she almost always knew what the answer was - the difficult part is remembering to consult! Slowing down or stopping long enough to even think about the options.

Of course I don't have a God with a preference of what I should or should not do - no "body" for me to ask what to do. So for me, I look inside, towards my conscience or my inner wiseguy, for direction. What's the best direction to go? What should I do? Better yet, I can ask "what would a healthy, sane person do?" or "what would a recovered person do?" The key to step 3 is remembering to ask - making it a habit to pause before acting. And I know that when I sincerely pause and consult, I know what the right answer is. Usually. On the rare occasion that I don't, then I've learned that the answer is "I don't have to decide yet." No answer is the answer!

I must say, I love sponsoring. Even when I hate it, I still love it. It keeps me connected to program and it keeps me in the steps and in recovery.

absenteeism

I am still here, although I have not been blogging ... I've started a few entries but not been able to finish them. I've been having a lot of trouble with pain in my hands and wrists, which makes typing difficult, to say the least. After doing the amount necessary to get through my work, blogging becomes an impossible task. However, I've been to the doctor and they ran some tests - hopefully I'll not only get some answers soon about what the heck is wrong, but also some useful treatment and pain relief as well!

I suppose I could attempt to do some shorter stuff ... but I've never been particularly good at keeping things short and simple. :) This will be my first attempt, and I promise to make more efforts at both shorter and simpler! And I'll keep you posted on my test results ...