Asking for something we fear.

[MajestyJo]

Thursday, February 27, 2014

You are reading from the book Today's Gift

The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
—Walter Bagehot

Everyone knew Jacob was a bitter old hermit who hated people. He lived by himself in a cabin in the woods. He never came to town, never talked to anyone, and never put up a mailbox or put in a phone. But he had one thing the townsfolk wanted -- the very first Bible brought by a preacher when the town was first settled. They wanted it for their centennial celebration.

Little Tom listened as the townsfolk complained daily about how much they wanted the old book to put on display. One day, he walked on out to the little cabin and just asked the old man if he could borrow the book, just for a week. Imagine the surprise on the faces of the people when the boy wandered back to town with the old dusty book in hand.

Are we like the townspeople sometimes? Do we assume things won't work out without even trying? Sometimes help is there, just waiting to be asked. What have we got to lose?

What can I request today that I have been afraid to ask for?

Feared making an a$$ of myself. My motto was do it with style and grace but wasn't always able to live up to it. You can't have a garage mouth, have hissy fits, whine and sit on the pity pot, and expect my needs to be met. As the slogan says, "Let It Begin With Me."

I had trouble asking for my own space, setting boundaries, and learning to detach not divorce from a person. Detachment doesn't mean I didn't love, it was because I did and didn't want to enable.

I feared rejection and abandonment. It had been a big part of my life prior to recovery, so it was learning how to live a new kind of life, without fearful thoughts.