Our Folded Hands

Women helping Women. Reaching out to the Sister who still suffers. Helping each other through the Good times and the Difficult times. To get to the SOBER way of life, One Day at a Time.

Promise of a new Day

I search these words and find nothing more than myself caught between the grapes and the thorns.
—Anne Sexton—

We are frequently afraid to look into ourselves, to probe our depths. We’ve feared that if we examined our basic motives and desires, we’d find a swamp of evil: corrupt, selfish and full of hate. But we’ve learned—to considerable relief—that those fears were unfounded. We’re human that’s all.; not better or worse than everyone else.
We all have particular traits that we struggle with, parts of ourselves that make us unhappy. When we’re feeling down on ourselves, it may seem that we’re the only person in the world with that fault. “Why am I so insecure?” No one else talks to loud!” I hate being so competitive.” If we could see into the hearts of our friends and associates, we would find virtually the same struggle.
And yet we go on fearing the monster lurking in those woods. Let’s bring that specter into the light; it’s only ourselves, constant traveler between pain and joy.
I only fear what I don’t know; self-knowledge is my real life’s work.