Many moons ago I was told not to look for the differences.

I do not hide the fact that I am a sober man. I am proud of the years that I have accumulated and all that I have learned and accomplished since my life re-started at that time over 18 years ago.

What I do not talk enough about is the major advantage that my sobriety provides me in meeting new people and making connections that aid and sooth my spirituality throughout the world… anywhere that I am traveling.

There was a time when I knew that I could find anyone I needed to find, anywhere that I went simply by walking into pubs or bars and engaging through the imbibing of spirits. Although I am definitely not knocking this as a method for finding company and conversation while learning more about myself, it was not always the slickest of outcome for me… nor was it something that I could necessarily remember in the end. From these situations I rarely would find something that I could move forward with or learn more from, whether about them or about myself. It could be fun, but it rarely proved spiritual or growth inducing. Nor, I should say, were many of these people to be life-long friends.

Today when I travel I connect through local meetings and learn about what is making people tick throughout the world. This fascinates me as time goes on in my sobriety because no matter what the type of meeting it is I attend I am never unhappy with the result. Out of it I am assured to understand the feelings from the group or many of its individuals simply by focusing on what the similarities are rather than what could be obvious differences in culture, sex, location, gender, financial setting, age or any other of a number of factors that divide us as human beings throughout the world.

There is not doubt that we are different, all of us. There is also no doubt to me that there are distinct pieces of the human puzzle that are very much the same. There are vital pieces that sometimes feel to be missing, sadness and joy, gratitude and loneliness, success and failure, faith and hope, loss and finding purpose once again. All of these are what I experience by listening and feeling what is around me. All of these are who I am and who I have been throughout my life… but especially aware of within the years of my sobriety.

What is different about me today… and changes for the better as each new day passes, is that I am looking to improve and grow. I am not happy just being… I want to be a spiritual being and look, through all these similarities, for the common ground and lesson that can be achieved and earned. It is always important to self-assess for growth. My journals, as one method, have provided me with the means towards therapy and awareness like nothing I’ve ever been able to achieve in other means. But human contact and communication is the most powerful tool of them all. Listening and knowing that you can relate to the places that people are or have been is vital to the very focus inwards that gives me my center. Sharing my strengths and weaknesses provides an acknowledgment of my humanity and allows for the possibility for others to relate as well. In this center I am operating the full machine that represents this body on the planet… wherever on the planet I may be.

Today I am finding more is similar than is different. That makes me happy, it makes me feel more a part of and it provides me with endless things to write about. This is a good cycle. A healthy way to live.

Be Happy. Be Well. Be.

Posted: 07|23|09 at 4:31 pm. Filed under: What If I Told you....
Tags: changing, differences, focus, growing, learning, listening, Similarities
New here? Follow this entry via RSS 2.0. Comment | Trackback