Category Archives: Acceptance

Acceptance, Humility, Love, Meaning Making

Reconciliation

What happens when relationships are irreparably broken and beyond the reach of reconciliation or grace?  Sometimes, they may be over.  But sometimes, I have discovered, they can be unaccountably restored. A foundation of the 12 steps:  “God did for me what I could not do for myself.”  I deeply appreciate the term “higher power” embraced by 12-step programs of all stripes.  It allows everyone, from the atheist … Continue reading Reconciliation »

Acceptance, Meaning Making, Sobriety, Surrender

Finding Contentment

Try reading Finding Contentment from our home page:  www.justathoughtbypat.com   When Marsha and I arrived back in Seattle last fall I felt a little like Rip Van Winkle waking up to a hometown I no longer recognized. When I first left back in 1971 times were tough. This billboard said it all: As most people know, the town has been booming, fueled by new technology that … Continue reading Finding Contentment »

Acceptance, Humility, Sobriety, Surrender

Embracing Defeat

Please check out this second installment in the Search for Inspiration series on our homepage: www.justathoughtbypat.com. In a world so obsessed with success how is it possible to embrace defeat? The book Embracing Defeat, by John W. Dower, describes how Japan did exactly that after World War II, and in so doing, accomplished the greatest turnaround of all time.  For those of us who have found embracing … Continue reading Embracing Defeat »

Acceptance, Love, Meaning Making, Peace of Mind, Sobriety

The Passing of a Dark Night

  This quote from Joseph Campbell is heartening when I am in a place of deep struggle.  But doesn’t the “dark night of the soul” sometimes seem unfathomably long? When my dark nights descend upon me negativity feeds on me like a hungry mushroom, my world morphs into a small, dreary place, the sun never shines, and it’s perpetually 10 minutes before midnight.  These are … Continue reading The Passing of a Dark Night »