Hello Again...

Whoa! Has it really been that long since my last post?! I have no excuses. Sure, we had a wonderful, whirlwind vacation. It took a few days to settle back in. The Greek economy is in crisis....

In reality, I've had plenty of opportunities to catch up on the blog. Unfortunately, I allowed my old acquaintance, Procrastination, to have a say in the scheduling.

Once again, the vacation was awesome. I got to spend some time bonding with the ones I love, made some new friends, and got to catch up with some old ones. I got to make a couple of those mountain meetings I love so much. I even got to share my favorite meeting in the world with Cupcake (it was open).

One of the things I miss from being back home is attending the Cornerstone Church services. I suppose YouTube is the next best thing.... Here's this week's sermon.

And here's the thought from Today's Gift...

Let the gentle bush dig its root deep and spread upward to split one boulder. —Carl Sandburg

There is a fable about the sun and wind having a contest to see who can get the old man to take his coat off first. The wind blows fiercely, but the old man just pulls his coat tighter around him. Finally, the wind gives up and the sun comes out. The sun shines a steady warm light down on the old man, who soon takes his coat off.

More and better things are accomplished in this world by kindness and gentleness than by force. When we find ourselves most frustrated, it is often because we are trying to force certain things to happen. Our own patient and steady desire to grow, fed by the love and kindness of others, will not be stopped by anything or anyone. Our own gentleness is a powerful force in our lives. It is like the gentle bush that grows through granite.

Time for bed and then another long day at work. Hope you have a great night and a blessed day tomorrow!

You Can't Hoe a Straight Line Looking Backward

Had to scoot from work to my 12 & 12 study. I was only about 10 minutes late. As some say, "You can get here late, but don't leave early." I used to arrive late and leave early.

We talked about the 9th step tonight. Absolutely perfect, considering I still have some amends left. I shared about the ones I've made so far, the ones I have yet to make, and the couple that I can't make in order to avoid hurting other people. I also talked about the selfishness of procrastination. The discussion was a really good re-enforcement.

Work went well. And quick. Which is a plus. I'll continue to look online tonight for more career-oriented opportunities though. I'd talked to my manager a while back about developing me, but he seems to like me where I am,. I do have to admit, however, that before everything had blown up in September, I did manage to climb one rung up the ladder. I think we all know how I sabotaged that.

The future is in front of me, and lamenting the past gets one nowhere. We can only learn from it and carry that knowledge forward. Someone told me, "You can't hoe a straight line looking backward."

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I thought I'd post his I Have a Dream speech. Still very relevant. I have to wonder what he'd say about the current state of the world and the progress we've made since August 28th, 1963.

Goodnight and have a blessed day tomorrow!