Recovery. Sobriety. Living Wise.
Every now and again a story comes along and serves as a mirror to my inner life. Good stories allow me to put a face to my thoughts. Sometimes the face so resembles me it’s scary, funny, illuminating, and maybe even healing. This little fable on catastrophic thinking made me laugh, cry, and scream all at the same time, and turned the mirror on my … Continue reading From Catastrophe to Change
When I traveled to India last November I flew a polar route through Dubai. I was lucky enough to have sitting next to me a 29-year-old economist from the UK named Chris. He was going to Abu Dabi for a conference on famine relief and since we had a 16-hour flight, we struck up a conversation that was for me both fascinating and a bit disturbing. … Continue reading Letting Go
I read a quote (uncredited) the other day that caught my attention: “Never blame anyone in your life. The good people give you happiness, the bad people give you experience, the worst people give you a lesson, the best people give you memories.” It struck me that when I look into the mirror in the morning all four characters stare back: the good, the bad, … Continue reading The Power of Thoughts
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
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