Benefits in Recovery

I did feel like I was traveling a 1,000 miles an hour as I raced from work to home to where my wife works in order to pick up my daughter’s softball equipment to the softball field then back home and then finally off to the Gamblers Anonymous meeting. This was a whirlwind but in between at my daughter’s softball practice I sat with my son and helped him with his homework. This was certainly the best use of both of our time and also did help to pass the time productively. I did have one eye on the practice since my daughter’s team had a scrimmage with another team. It appears that my daughter’s team has some work to do prior to their first game on Saturday because it could be another long season.

My daughter (in my “unbiased” opinion!) is one of the better if not the best player on her team. She is one of the oldest players on her team at age 11 in the 10 and under league. The cutoff for being 10 was January 1st so my daughter was able to play in this particular league. This is a good thing for her because had she moved up to the 12 and under league she would have been one of the smallest players in the league. Now she in spite of her advanced age is somewhere in the middle of the pack with her diminutive height but her softball skills are well ahead of the girls that are just moving up from the 8 and under league. I think she is going to have a good season and if she continues to practice her pitching she could have an outstanding season. She is quite skilled with her bat and if the opposing pitchers are able to throw her strikes she will get many hits. I don’t have very high expectations for her team because there are many very little girls who are just grasping the concepts of softball. In any event I do hope my daughter continues to have fun.

She certainly had fun out there yesterday during the scrimmage and afterwards as the entire team practiced sliding. I hadn’t seen that much energy in my daughter in such a long time. She was having a good old time in the field and running the bases. This was very exciting to witness and yes, I am so thankful to be able to witness this excitement and I also was able to spend some quality time with my son. We not only worked on his homework together we also played catch afterward having a good time ourselves. I do remember speaking with a very good friend a few years back whose children are a few years older than mine and this friend told me what a joy it was as his children got older. I can see why because the older they get the more satisfying the time seems; this could change as they enter the teenage years but I will savor every moment right now.

The practice ended and I headed home only to go right out to the Speaker’s meeting. It was a very good meeting with two new members in attendance. The Speaker’s meeting is different from the four other meetings in our area. The Speaker’s Meeting is limited to one hour and most everything is abbreviated with the exception of giving the speaker the bulk of the meeting time. I did my best to make the two new members comfortable because I can still vividly remember my first meeting where everything in my life seemed to be swirling in my head. I had several other members come up to me and do their best to make me feel comfortable so I try to do this when there is a new member in the room.

The speaker was very good and I continue to be amazed how well most people who embrace the GA program grow. This particular recently celebrated their 1st birthday with Gamblers Anonymous and I can remember those early meetings. The growth has been tremendous and once again the speaker’s meeting provided great insight into this member. I do hope the new members started to understand the huge benefits of the program and will come back for a second meeting. I am always happy to have attended a meeting and last night was no exception.

The whirlwind afternoon and evening came to an end as I came home last night. I did pretty much “collapsed” when I went to sleep last night and this morning I was awake at the very early morning ready to do it all over again. I was off to the gym and got in a very good workout then it was off to the office. There was a “déjà vu” moment that occurred during the day except this moment unlike the first moment wasn’t filled with angst. Thankfully the angst is something of the past and something recovery has helped me with tremendously. I noticed others in the office were stressing about what was transpiring but I went about my business very calmly. I’m not sure where this will all go but I do know this is so much better than the first moment because everything has changed in my life for the better.