Grateful Sunday – January 3, 2021

I’m grateful we’re celebrating the rebirth of a new year. While 2020 has been a challenge for all of us, I’m grateful for those challenges and what I’ve learned along the way.

I’m so grateful to watch my daughters grow into young women. I have no idea where the time has gone, that my oldest daughter will graduate from High School this year and that my youngest is almost halfway through. I love how intuitive they are, how in touch with their emotions they are, and they have no problem expressing what’s going on with them. They are light years ahead of where I was at their age and I’m grateful I can pass on the lessons I’ve learned which will help them in the future.

I’m grateful to have met a new woman, one who accepts all my traits, both positive and negative. I’m grateful she understands how difficult divorce is, especially when one tried hard to salvage the marriage and acknowledges the struggles one has with the feelings of failure and grief that accompany the split. I’m grateful she’s supportive of my recovery, her insight, our openness with one another, and her feeling safe and comfortable to express her needs and wants. I’m also grateful for her willingness to step outside her comfort zone to meet some of my needs as each of us learn how to sustain a long-distance relationship.

I’m grateful for new friends and maintaining the close friends I’ve had all these years; from those in program, to one I’ve known since kindergarten, and old college friends. I’m grateful for reconnecting with an ex-girlfriend, from over 20 years ago, and rebuilding a close friendship after years of no communication. I’m grateful for my “yoga partner,” a fellow coworker who pushes me to try new things and the opportunity to do yoga with her when I’m in Hawaii. I’m grateful for connecting with my father’s family and look forward to meeting new relatives and learning more about a family I never had in my life.

I’m grateful my ex and I still remain amicable while raising our two beautiful daughters. I’m grateful her boyfriend treats our girls with much love, respect, and that both girls like him as well. I’m grateful that through all we’ve been through over the years, we can still work together to be the best parents we can be for our girls.

I’m grateful for my “village”; my roommate, her boyfriend, her young son, and my youngest daughter’s close friend and her family. Having them in my life has been such a blessing. They’ve made my home feel like a home. My girls enjoy coming to my house and we’ve made memories that will last a lifetime (such as a Harry Potter Marathon – a blog for another time). My roommate and her boyfriend are like a big sister and brother to my girls, helping guide them, while at the same time giving them someone they feel safe to talk to who’s not Mom or Dad. I’m also grateful for the joy my roommate’s son brings us. Watching him grow up and my girls being a part of his development has given me so much pleasure.

I’m grateful for Tommy Rosen and his Recovery 2.0 community. I’ve learned so much from his 8 Week Awakening course, his weekly coaching sessions, the weekly recovery meetings, and I’m blessed to have stayed connected with the members of my accountability pod that we formed 8 months ago.

One of the biggest gifts 2020 gave me was the experience of yoga. This has become a daily routine that helps ground me and continues to move energy through my body. Yoga is what truly helped me heal when I once again fell into the dark abyss of fear, anxiety, and depression. Yoga took the physical pain I’d been complaining about for years and let it all go, while at the same time teaching me how to slow down. My roommate gave me a sloth tea holder for Christmas as a symbol to live a leisurely life (especially when I’m having tea), not one of constant go go go. Yoga has helped me reach a point where I feel peace when I’m alone, the ability to release emotional blockages, and the power to slow my mind so I can truly meditate.

Thank you, Father, for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me in 2020. I know it’s been an extremely rough year for everyone. I pray others can find the gifts of 2020 and learn to appreciate the good you gave us.

And thank you, Father, for Recovery 2.0 prayer, one that genuinely resonates with me.

Universe put me in the places you want me to be

With the people you want me to be with

Doing the things you want me to do

Thank you for the joys and the challenges of our lives.

Amen, Sat Nam, Namaste, and Whoo! Whoo!