October 31 (94)

”When I hear somebody sigh ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’” Sydney J. Harris

It’s sometimes hard to see beyond my own problems. They seem to be sit in front of me, blocking my view of everything else. It often takes me going to a meeting and hearing the sharing of others' stories to put my own troubles into perspective. Sometimes it takes me being able to see others' struggles and challenges, hearing and watching them cope, to help me see a way past where I find myself in my own life. Left to my own devices I always tend to make my problems larger than they are. When all I stare at is the issue at hand, it makes it hard to find any kind of solution. I am thankful that I can rely on others to help break me out of that trance. Life has its challenges, but I am learning to live by the Serenity Prayer, to put things into a more realistic perspective. I am letting go of those things and people that I cannot change. Most of my solutions now involve looking at what I can change, what I can do personally in any given situation. It comes from an acceptance of letting the will of my Higher Power precede my own.

Affirmation I will try to focus today on the solutions rather than the problems. Listening to how others cope with their struggles can inspire my own problem-solving.