Tao of Lunacy

This will be a bit different from my typical ramblings. As some of my close friends know, my ex-husband was an alcoholic (though he’s in recovery now and doing very well.) Addiction affects so many people…their friends and their families. For me personally, Al-Anon became a lifeline. I learned many lessons and started my own lifelong (often tumultuous) journey of "recovery".

While it’s not necessary to embrace every facet of such programs, there are things about them in which we can take comfort, find inspiration and serenity. For me, the quotes and sayings were extremely meaningful. It was like someone had already taken my difficulties, found the words and concepts I needed to know, and reduced them to something I could understand and hold on to. I also found acceptance and friends in the chat rooms of about.alcoholism.com. For many months I spent countless hours with people who were totally accepting and willing to discuss anything from what was for dinner to the principles of the program. They also offer online meetings for A.A., N.A., ACOA, Al-Anon, etc.

I’ve had a number of links to some wonderful sites I’ve not shared before. For a number of reasons, I kept them private. I’ve realized there are many more people, in countless situations, who might also find some measure of comfort and stability from the very same things I did. Much of what you find on these pages applies not only to those dealing with being addicted, or the affects of addiction on relationships, but can be applied to many, many other types of situations. Below is a list of some of the sites I found helpful:

• Recovery Greetings Slogans for AA and Alanon.
• alcoholism.about.com Chat Rooms Please see my thoughts above.
• Beezone Addiction Page These pages offer some alternative thoughts on addiction, but some of the essays are very good for understanding human nature.
• Serenity Tthis site has incredibly inspirational quotes, stories and amazingly beautiful pictures/artwork. Well worth taking a look!

And of course, for those of you who haven’t seen it, many of the thoughts and words that have helped me are shared on the Life Lessons page of patndoris.com.  I hope you’ll take time to visit my page and see what I’ve found inspirational.

Even if you aren’t in the midst of a crisis, or dealing with some difficult situation, these pages are good for inspiration. I dare say there’s something for most anyone in these pages if you take the time to look. This has been a post of a more serious nature, and certainly not one where I’m apt to turn loose my (often unorthodox) sense of humor or unusual method of interpreting even the most mundane ideas. If just one person finds something useful in anything here I will feel I’ve done something worthwhile.

I’ve chosen to include an image of the full version of the Serenity Prayer below. You’ll find more in this than the shortened saying with which many people are already familiar.  While it does makes reference to religion, 12-step programs prefer to simply think of our lives as being guided by a Higher Power (HP) than ourselves.