Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul Daily Inspirations (Chicken Soup for the Soul) (36 page)

A
UGUST
24

D
rinking helped me deal with my depression. I drank myself into a stupor to numb my internal pain. Repeated efforts at treatment failed until my last admission when they rolled me into the trauma unit on a gurney and began by addressing my depression. Thirty-two days later, I came away with a clear understanding that the only way I was going to be successful in my recovery was to be more involved in my recovering community. I had occasion to visit that facility again, not as a patient, but as a guest. I was there to discuss a collaboration between their program and the new treatment center I had just opened. I remember once wondering if life was worth living. Now I know.

Perry D. Litchfield

I welcome happiness as it enlarges my heart; I endure sadness for it opens my soul.

Og Mandino

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
25

“T
here are great, exciting adventures waiting for you out there!” This is what one of my good friends in recovery said to me after I told her I just got divorced. I wasn’t feeling very enthusiastic about my life at that point. As time passed though, I was grateful for her perspective and her positive approach to something about which I didn’t feel very optimistic. How grateful I am for the people, a philosophy and a way of life that helps me see the positive in any given situation.

Anne Conner

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

Dolly Parton

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
26

O
ur life is today. When we lay our head on the pillow tonight, this day will never come back–this is a one-time deal.

We will miss it if we wait for the illusive perfection of tomorrow, next week or next year.

In the eternal scheme of things, today is just a shallow breath. But without each breath linked to another, we cannot fulfill our destiny.

Barbara A. Croce

All of us tend to put off living, dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.

Dale Carnegie

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
27

S
tanding at the bottom of the stairs, unable to put my foot on the first step, I had never been more tired or more depressed in my entire life. I had to use the bathroom and I couldn’t get off the floor. Suddenly I saw myself, a young woman, hand on the rail, tears in my eyes, looking up. As I closed my eyes to banish the image, one foot made it to the first step. Two hands grabbed the rail and pulled me to the next step. With my eyes still closed I made it to the top of the stairs. Success. Incredible. The road to recovery really did begin with that first step.

Anne Tiller Slates

Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor the best opportunities; they will never come.

Janet E. Stuart

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
28

F
or nearly thirty years I had little contact with my family until, one day, the phone rang. My dad was dying. I harbored no illusions of making up for a lifetime lost, but hoped to make the most of what little time we had left. One afternoon after talking around the edges, I told him that I was sorry for all the time we had missed. He smiled, reached for my hands, closed his eyes and spoke softly. Listening to him, I laid my head in his lap and cried for the little girl he had left so many years ago. That day, he became my father again, and I, his daughter. The sunlight faded as we held each other, perhaps not for a lifetime, but at the very least, for a childhood.

Theresa Peluso

The longer you carry a grudge the heavier it gets.

Unknown

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
29

W
hen my sister, who suffered from both addiction andmental illness wasmurdered, I turned tomy Higher Power and asked that simple question:
Why?
I felt the enormity of the vacuum of silence. I no longer felt any connection to the resilient part of who I thought I was. I wanted to be with those who knew the misery I was experiencing, so I accepted a position helping abused, hurt children. What I discovered was hope. Despite everything that life had dished out to them, these kids refused to throw in their cards. They kept striving. They kept dreaming. They kept living. I needed to remember to do that and I have. Together we have healed.

Patricia O’Gorman

The way to happiness is to lose yourself in a cause greater than yourself.

Unknown

Footnotes for Life

A
UGUST
30

I
was the model teenager trying desperately to gain my stepfather’s approval and love, but I never seemed to succeed. With high school nearing an end, I recognized that nothing I could do would change his behavior. For his birthday, I found a meaningful card that represented all the hopes of my heart. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I took the risk of being vulnerable. A few days later I found a caring note from him, the first correspondence I could recall written in his hand to me. The more time I spent on seeking growth in forgiveness and in my own character, rather than trying to fix or improve others, the more things turned around for us.