The Courage to Change

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We forgot the paddles! Luckily the lake was close!

“We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.”    Barbara De Angelis 


Dear Readers,
In order for me to get sober, I had to have the courage to face the fact I had to change. I had to have the courage to take that leap, and have faith that life would still be fun when I stopped drinking. I had to have the courage to accept and surrender to the fact that drinking was making my life miserable. The only option was to stop.

It was scary, and it was hard at first. I just didn’t know how I would do this. How would I ever be able to have fun, relax, or cope with problems?
I was retired, going deaf, and drinking was my last “fun” thing to do.

Took a bit to capture this beauty!


When they talk about recovery being a process, they are right. With enough honesty, support, learning, and being open to hear things that would help me, I have made wonderful progress. 

I often say life is hard. When I accepted this, and quit being a victim, life became easier. When I accepted that there are days I fly, and days I crawl, life became easier. When I accepted that some people will have more talent, more money, better trips, more friends, life became easier. When I accepted Wendy, who she is, life became easier. When I accepted that I could only change myself and have no control over much in life, life became easier. 

I still struggle with comparisons, but I even understand those feelings. I gained weight from eating too much, and am accepting that. I am understanding the bigger idea of acceptance and surrendering in order to change! I still have problems I must face. Everyone does. That is where I develop my courage. Some days I retreat in my fears, other days I am able to face life head on.

Hubs and I are officially old! We both turned 65 this summer! Yikes!! LOL
The old saying, Life is Short, is very true! I realize there is not enough time or money to do all the things we want to do, and I even accept that.
I am so grateful I had hubs to share life with, grateful for all we have, for the trips and experiences we have had. Many people didn’t have this. 

Gratitude, acceptance, surrender, courage. It took all of these for me to learn life is fun, sad, scary, beautiful and painful, all at the same time. 

With A Smile, 

We caught some fish! 

On Day 1439, 

Wendy

PS – Hubs and I had a fun stay vacation this summer! We visited old high school friends, went biking, canoeing and fishing, golfing, and had a beach day! 
Super fun birthday celebration!

I also had a wonderful visit with Heya, Monster! She helped me pick out my birthday dress! xo

Published by Untipsyteacher

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25 thoughts on “The Courage to Change”

  1. Aww, Wendy, you are always so inspiring. Thanks so much for writing! You give me hope to just…keep…going. I'm creeping up on 6 months!!! Can you believe it? And yes, I have noticed that a LOT of recovery has to do with acceptance. 🙂

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  13. I love this! You are an ispiration.The 4th paragraph is so beautiful. I keep re-reading it; it reads like poetry.Loved sharing moments with you and Keith at Linda’s ❤️

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  18. Thank you for another beautiful and inspiring post, Wendy! I am finding that acceptance and letting go is key to sobriety. Happy belated birthday to you and Hubs…oh and welcome to Medicare! 🙂 lol

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