Your Spiritual Journey is a Gift
It’s easy to think that we have to do something, or experience something, remarkable to have a reason to share the story of our lives. We have a way of believing that our ordinary lives are just that, ordinary. The value in reaching out is missed in our poor estimation of what we have to offer. We wait for something big to happen to us before we recognize the importance of our journey. We don’t acknowledge the special gift we have to share. It’s the gift of our ordinary lives shared with others.
I joined a codependency support group. The people in my group are extraordinary. They’re not, although, extraordinary by a worldly definition. None of the people at the table are famous, exceedingly rich or outrageously successful. They are ordinary people living ordinary lives. I learn from their lives. They live simply, and honorably, in the face of great adversity. In fact, adversity transforms them, making them gentler, kinder and more forgiving. I admire their stamina and their confidence in God’s plan for their lives. Their journeys encourage me.
For a while, I felt like I had no business taking a spot at the table. I expected to have very little to offer, or receive from, the people sitting around me. Then, it started to happen. As stories were shared I began to connect with people. Some days I discovered that we had the same feelings. Other days I found myself working through the same problem as someone to the left or the right of me. Our lives began to intersect. Common threads connected their journeys to mine. Their stories filled my world with hope. I began to expect that I would have something to receive.
Some days, when the meeting was over, people would thank me for