I had an interesting thought that while maybe not original, really meant something to me tonday in my f2f.  Two people shared about going back and forth on something.  I've constantly found myself doing this and many times I'm comforted w/ esh that says not to be hard on myself,  progress, not perfection, that the program takes time.

Those are all true but what struck me today as a new thought is, this pendulum swing is a vital part of recovery.  There is too much to learn, there is too much to change in one fell swoop.  Our HP's will not over burden us.  We reach a point in our day or even our program where it's working well.  Say we are focusing on ourselves.  Next thing you know we get sucked into something else or someone else's negative energy.  Were we have progress is the awareness gained through our HP and through the program, because we are open.  These slips back to the negative patterns are truly as some say opportunities.  Because now we have to reexamine our behaviors, we can reevaluate our motives, reactions, actions, thoughts.  The small steps are truly the building blocks.

Sure there will be days when things are almost perfectly serene.  There will also be those days when we feel we've slipped.  If we didn't have these days, with ourselves swinging like a metronome.  I would sometimes be frustrated with myself for these slips.  Today, I've come to think as those slips as part of my bilding process.   Without these swings or ups and downs of program, I would only have one shot at growth.  As of today, my potential for growth is only as finite as my openess, only as finite as the remainder of my life span , as long as my HP wishes me to grow.

Bob