The 5 People I'll Meet In Heaven

After watching the movie, which was made from the novel, I started to contemplate who might be waiting for me on the other side. There are the 2 obvious answers, but who else? Is someone already waiting for me? Or am I yet to have an experience that will have enormous consequences, positive or negative? Realizing my age and inexperience, it is quite likely that some of my 'people' have not happened. To clarify, events have not yet occurred that I will not initially be able to understand, but ultimately my perspectives will be widened after death.

Think about this for yourself? Have you already lost someone; are they on the other side waiting for you to join them? Live your life so that there are only positive experiences, happiness and joy waiting for you on the other side. This makes for a much better book.


cw

If I am always prepared for the worst, I just may be able to avoid the catastrophic

cw

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the exstacy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.



-----------From "The Invitation" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Degrees and certificates are not the only requirement for an education. In fact, to me, they are less important than experience, perspective, and response.

cw

The Fallout

In one of my DUI education groups I presented a concept of the aftermath of addiction. Much like the bombing in Oklahoma City or the attacks on September 11, the bomb or planes struck a specific location(s). That immediate location sustained incredible damage, but the aftermath was not isolated to that specific area. Housing developments, streets, shops, and other buildings nearby were devastated, even if they were simply struck with debris and not completely wiped out. Compare this to the aftermath of addiction. When a person is overcome by addiction, priorities are compromised and ultimately transformed. A helpless child may find that he or she is now on the back burner, second or third to the 'drug'. There is no classification of the drug, but simply something that MUST be acquired by the addict, at all cost. The destruction does not limit itself. It spreads. It spreads to family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors and community members, and even to strangers. A parent struggling with addiction may leave his or her spouse to be a single parent, to raise children without providing love, financial support, time, knowledge, and the list goes on. A parent struggling with addiction is a person bound. Until the bonds of the addiction can be broken, or at least until they can provide a little slack, the child will not be cared for, especially not in a way that is appropriate and acceptable. A majority of people in this world have siblings. It is reasonable to assume that when a person is addicted, their family, immediate or extended, will face difficulty, stress, and pain.
Imagine a bullseye, or a target. The center of this target, or the epicenter, as is termed for the center of destruction in a earthquake, is the most chaotically affected by addiction or any other form of misery. The epicenter is the individual. That person is affected, body, mind, spirit, everything. The first ring beyond the epicenter might consist of parents, children, spouse or partner, siblings, etc. These individuals are immediately affected by the addicts choices, and the consequences that come with his or her choices. The next ring might include more informal or infrequent contacts, those who have some interest in the welfare of the individual. Ultimately, there are people who are affected in a variety of ways, it is not limited to the addict. But the addict often fails to realize this. The idea that 'it is my body, my life, and I'll do what I want' is just one of several typical responses when an intervention is initially attempted by concerned family members. The addict is in denial, struggling with pride and unwilling to admit he or she is powerless and desperately needs help. This is not abnormal. It is important to support the addict and allow them to discover their helplessness and confront it. But without support from others, it is often impossible to overcome addiction.

cw

Great quotes

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day to day basis."
--Margaret Bonnano

"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think."
--Lorraine Hansbury

"The most potent muse of all is our own inner child."
--Stephen Nachmanovitch

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."
--Aristotle

"I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex."
--Oscar Wilde

"Love the moment and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries."
--Corita Kent