She was new. If I were her, I would have despised everyone in the room for being so relaxed about the situation we were all in. Didn’t she realize we had all been in her shoes?
Boot Camp.
It reminded me of myself about eight years ago. I was new. I despised the people in the room for laughing with each other. So comfortable. Like this really wasn’t a big deal to be here.
AA.
The journey for anyone to walk through the doors of either of these places is hard and I am sure you can think of many more. In the beginning, you wish you could be anywhere else. That you had never started drinking or eating copious amounts of junk food.
And now you want to fix it.
There had been tears on the journey downhill into this pit, but now it’s time to go up. And that, my friend, is where the hard work begins. It is the end of the old and the beginning of the new. A want and determination to simply be happy with who you are, starts with you.
It takes a village and that village becomes your community. Your support system, your accountability, your lifeline.
Community is so important. Watching the new girl that morning at bootcamp reminded me of my first AA meeting. I was scared. I was embarrassed. Most of all, I could not imagine that giving up drinking would ever be easy nor would I ever be that happy about it. I found a community as my recovery journey unfolded in front of me. I needed support. I could not do this alone and the people that encouraged me along the way made a difference. My perspective has changed..
The people in these rooms, whether it be a circle of chairs or exercise equipment, have all been exactly where you are. Hurting, hopeful, angry, scared.
I found my community in recovery groups, social media, boot camp, church, my biking buddies, and most of all in my family.
In the process I learned something: you never know how your words and actions might affect someone else. To reach out and assure someone they are in the right place.
I am a big believer in pay it forward, so when I saw an open window of opportunity, I took it. At the end of the class, we surrounded this woman and loved on her with encouragement. There were tears running down her face and she said, “THIS IS HARD!“ We laughed and hugged her even though we were all a hot mess (literally).
I only had one piece of advice,
“Keep coming back,”
and she did.
"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Who is your community? You probably don’t even realize that you are a member of several already...
Peace on your weekend,
Sherry