Thursday, August 26, 2010

More Happiness

I’ve had wonderful things happening in my life recently. A wedding. A trip to Paris. But even with that I’m confronted with myself and the sure knowledge that recovery is “progress not perfection.”

I found myself –in the midst of these good things--stoking an old resentment and contemplating schemes to make another person miserable. “Just a tiny tweak”, I told myself. “Just a teensy jab in her direction?”

And then it hit me. Good stuff was happening in my life: Love. Happiness. Sobriety. And then this thought:

“My happiness is not contingent on other people’s unhappiness.”

And even then I had to pray to be better than my own thoughts, to be bigger and better than I may really be.

1 comment:

Jane said...

It is curious how so many of us [certainly me] evaluate another person's good fortune as a strike against us. Since being in a 12 Step program, I have made progress in turning this old mindset around. I talk to my higher power and find joy in another person's success. And some days are harder than others. Progress not perfection is a concept that has helped me too. Thank you for sharing this example. It's always good for me to be reminded to listen to my higher power.