Contentment/Contented

Yesterday continued as I made my way to the Sunday evening Gamblers Anonymous meeting. Even though I would be going to tonight’s Gamblers Anonymous meeting since I am the Secretary I did want to fulfill my commitment of attending the Sunday evening meeting. The meeting I Secretary is a Speaker’s meeting and has a very different “feel” from most other meetings. The Speaker meetings are very good because it provides so much more insight into a fellow member. There is only one speaker per meeting and each speaker basically speaks for the entire meeting. Additionally it is only an hour meeting so there isn’t much time for typical sharing/therapy. I do find it beneficial attending the Sunday evening meeting along with the Speaker’s Meeting.

Last night was a very good meeting and these meetings are very inspiring. The subject of “contentment” came up and it is so interesting how different people have different opinions on the same subject matter. I looked up the definition of contentment and realized I needed to look up the word contented since the definition of contentment was “the act of being contented”. The definition of contented is very simple and can be summed up in one word “satisfied”. This is exactly what I thought it would be but I have not always thought this way. Prior to me seeking recovery I thought contented meant settling and now thankfully I understand there is a big difference between being settled and being satisfied.

I am extremely satisfied with how my life continues to move and in the past I was mostly ambivalent about my life. The ambivalence has been replaced with utter contentment and I am satisfied, pleased, happy, grateful, thankful and all the other synonyms of contentment. I continue to learn that it is more than okay to be contented with life because this is how it is supposed to be. All of this was talked about in the meeting and I am so happy I made my way to the meeting.

The meeting was over and I returned home for a very peaceful Sunday evening. There wasn’t anything earth shattering that happened last night other than the fact that my daughter had more than the usual amount of difficulty getting to sleep. She was very active during the day but she did wake up much too late and very late last night my wife was allowing her to sleep in our bed. I am the “mean one” when it comes to this subject but was overruled and my daughter was allowed to stay. It was very interesting when my son made his usual early morning appearance as the entire family was in the same room. This is the definition of togetherness and really I certainly don’t mind because I missed these times so much. My life is incredible and it is these moments that I cherish so much.

Everyone had to wake up to start the school week and it was a very sluggish morning. Amazingly everyone got out the door in time for the start of school. I did make my way to the gym this morning as I have revamped my training schedule. I still don’t have a place to swim so I made my way to the usual gym and instead of running I rode the exercise bicycle. There are two types of exercise bicycle the standard upright cycle and the recumbent cycle.

The recumbent cycle has been my preferred apparatus for a number of years but this morning as I focus on completing a triathlon I went on the standard upright cycle. This may not seem like such a big deal but it is different from the recumbent cycle. I had a very good session and once again the sweat was pouring down. I realize that I need to get outside but until I find a suitable road bicycle I have to remain on the standard upright cycle perfecting my technique. I was right this is going to be a great deal of fun and it will add to my training. Hopefully this will also translate into me making up those precious minutes as I attempt to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

My work day started and I really need to be flexible since my duties change almost hourly. I am flexible and grateful for the opportunity and I excel at doing what I am told. I completed those tasks and the day went by so quickly.