“So take their opinions with a grain of salt.” A very powerful, spiritually rewarding practice

“So take their opinions with a grain of salt.” A very powerful, spiritually rewarding practice.

In our toxic, hyper-competitive, self-centered society, where “winning, “achievement,” material success, and physical attractiveness are idolized, while kindness, compassion, empathy, and love are often devalued or ignored, we tend to lose THE key aspect of our shared humanity.

The common bond that we all share is suffering. No one gets off of this Earth without experiencing severe pain in some form.

Jesus, MLK, St Francis of Assisi, Dorothea Dix, Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Peace Pilgrim, Nelson Mandela and many others understood this. And the way they lived their lives, coupled with their teachings, taught us that love is the soothing balm and remedy that we need to apply to one another.

Many of us in the recovery community have learned this lesson through our years of suffering (thus creating our story) that often prevented us from being “successful” by society’s standards.

But as we began to heal and get into community with “our people,” who loved us back to life, and with the rest of the world, we discovered what was really important. Loving, sharing our story with those who are still suffering, and serving others.

And we do it with joy and gratitude!