Releasing

I really haven't been getting to enough meetings for some time, be it AA or Al Anon. Basically only one week, first thing Saturday morning. This has been something of a refrain in my life for some time, but I suppose it's a nice problem to have.

This morning went to my Al Anon group, which is still happening 100% virtually. Today the group was led by a young woman who recently pulled up stakes and moved to New York City without a job, because she has always wanted to live there. Which is a beautiful thing. The theme was letting go of control and trusting that things will work out. People shared about this in a variety of contexts, including a woman who wants a another kid at age 39 but hasn't convinced her husband -- and knows she can't force it, another whose 16-year old child is smoking too much weed and whose spouse is smoking it with her, etc. There's another guy in there, an older guy, who shared a couple of years ago that he has been informed he has some kind of degenerative neurological condition, honestly I can't remember what it is (no irony there). When he read, he did so a little haltingly, but with grace.

It is poignant to watch these people live their lives and face challenges and share about it openly and be reminded that I need to do the same with all the stuff going on in my life, with which I regularly regale you.

Sometimes in recent years I've gotten a little annoyed with this group, which has seemed overcome with conniptions of equity mongering and wishing to save the world in big bites, instead of focusing on themselves. But I keep coming back nonetheless, because that's another thing I can't control and the good outweighs the bad by far.