Sunday, October 22, 2017

Humility vs. Passivity

I'm not proud that I'm an alcoholic. I'm not ashamed of it, either. It's just one fact of my life, not all of my life. I am in recovery. I'm not proud of that, and I'm not ashamed of it. Recovery is how I remind myself that I'm an alcholic and stay away from the first drink. It isn't something to be ashamed of, but it isn't something to be proud of either.

Some people wear recovery as a badge of honor. Others seem to allow it to become their whole identity. I can't do that. I appreciate recovery and what it means for me. I pass on what I know about getting and staying sober to those who want it. I don't waste my time on people who don't want it.
I tell my doctors that I'm an alcoholic. I don't want drugs or alcohol in my life today, so I make sure they don't prescribe something that may lead me back to addiction. But it isn't a badge of honor or a badge of shame. It just is.



I've been thinking about other stuff in regards to humility, too. Like this "#metoo" campaign on social media. It isn't a badge of honor. Or a badge of courage. Or a badge of shame. But people who've been assaulted, sexually molested, raped, and had to suffer unwelcome overtures after they said "no" clearly, are often made to feel like they are the bad guys.

I had a job once where the junior computer tech was friendly and seemed to be OK. Then, he sent me an obscene email through the company email system. I was offended. I reported it to my supervisor. I told the guy not to send that kind of stuff. He seemed to get into trouble, and was put on notice that that kind of stuff - especially through company email - was not OK.

I had another job once where the VP would come up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. I sat in a public area but a little off to the side. I felt very uncomfortable - yet flattered. I was a lot younger, then.

Another job where I witnessed a young woman singled out by the new owner of the company. She was married, yet he would call her into his office and close the door. He had another company and moved her over there when she became uncomfortable with all of us. Later, she sued him and I was a witness.

This kind of thing happens too often. It isn't being humble when we let these people do this and get away with it. They need to know that we don't go to work to have a sexual predator fondle us or make suggestive comments to us. We go to work to support our families. To support our kids. To support ourselves. We go to work to exercise our minds. Very few women I know go to work to find a sexual liaison with their boss.




Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Wow - Starting a new venture

Well, I took a break from here while I branched out...

I stopped the political activities. It was personal. I got caught between three women who apparently have passive/aggressive anger toward each other. I was the vehicle used, and I didn't like it. I felt used in many ways. Glad I'm out of it. My mental health is better.

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I did a wonderful guided meditation with my friend, Juile Daley in San Francisco. It was online. I found a wonderful part of me that I'd forgotten was there. If you get a chance to work with her, do it! You won't regret it. 

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I had some medical tests that all proved nothing was going on - at least not in those areas. Still don't have any answers, but there are more tests coming.


I did about 3 weeks - maybe more - of physical therapy, but I've given it up. My balance hasn't been getting any better, so it's time to move to another form of exercise. For now.

I've found some fabulous percussion music on YouTube and since I can dance to just about any rhythmic music, I find it easy to dance to. That's exercise, too.

And of course, a 40 minute walk around walmart every so often also counts...

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I started a new venture. I decided to focus on prediabetes (which I no longer have) and tell folks how I beat it. It took me about 2 weeks to get it going and I have 18 pages now. I've planned about 88, plus the recipes - about 1100 of them.

I'm setting up a paid weekly newsletter service that will include menus for 7 days with full recipes on the website - driving traffic. The newsletter will include an exercise each week and a full shopping list for the recipes of the week.

I hope to sell some supplements and gourmet spices along with some gentle affiliate marketing relationships.

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My sister weathered the Santa Rosa Tubbs fire - at least so far. She's had a bad time of it lately, and I've been pretty concerned.