Dear Buddha

"To share happiness. And to have done something good. Before leaving this life is sweet."Buddha

Dear Buddha I whole heartedly agree. This blog is in part dedicated to the man I love but it is also dedicated to myself, to learning who I really am behind the face I show to the world. It is my hope that by writing this blog I will continue to celebrate the new love I have found, and share it with you but also celebrate my personal growth.

So let us begin with how we met, I flipped on an online radio station and heard his voice, I knew the moment I heard it he was it. The one. The forever after all.

In recent days and weeks we had some growing pains but I feel like we are on track now, we are setting up boundaries and making sure that we each follow them – for instance three days a week we both have free, and they happen for the most part to be the same evenings. So Friday and Saturday he works and on Friday I have my meetings, Sunday he does his show. Monday Tuesday we have free together, after my Tuesday meeting, Wednesday he does his show but we have time to chat back and forth, Thursday we have free together. So there really is plenty of time to spend together in the week but also live our lives and enjoy our separate interests.

Since I met him I have found that I have to re-learn the social norms of an adult relationship. It is new for me, this communication and trust thing. Trust someone you see every day in person is one thing but putting your fears aside and trusting someone who you cannot always look in the eyes is a very different kind of trust.

The more we put the drama, the stress and the fears behind us, the more I begin to see the road ahead, what I hope will happen, or think could happen.

I really am trying not to have too many expectations, because expectations destroy everything in the universe. There cannot be a plan of any sort really; it has to be one of those things that just happens as we go. This is the most nerve wracking part, because whatever the universe throws at us, and it could be anything, is something we need to deal with, as it comes, there is no planning for it. No knowing what could happen to either of us in the long run.

This frightens me, I am really trying hard to be the best girlfriend I can be, but the truth is I have had exactly one live in boyfriend in my life time, I do not really know how to do the dating thing or the girlfriend thing well.

I have to remind myself there is no reason to be jealous of any girl, he has shown me several times that I am the only one he wants, now that the drama is behind us, now that everyone we know online understands we are together. The more I learn about him the more I have to smile, sometimes he can be really subtle about showing me his feelings and other times he will outright “claim” me as his. Both approaches work for me.

Some might call it cavemen like in its behavior, but really it’s a reaffirmation of what we both believe, we will be together. There were like I have said, hiccups, miscommunications and hurt feelings, but I look at only a few days ago to today, where we both know exactly where we stand and what we want and I smile.

I smile because many people who care about me who know every detail told me to walk away to call it quits before it really starts to hurt and I kept saying no because I did not want to regret anything. If we are going to do this, try to be together and make it real then it has to BE real, we must communicate, we must work on the problems rather than walking away at the first opportunity.

For the first time in my life I really am trying to take responsibility for my actions for things I have said and done that hurt him in order to be not only a better person but a happier person. I don’t know if he knows how much he means to me, or how much I am willing to fight for this to work.

I feel like if I just give up and walk away I am making the same mistakes I made in my addiction and I never want to go back to that, ever again.

We have a lot of differences him and me but we also have some similarities. We think a lot alike, though sometimes I have problems either voicing my thoughts or taking the time to listen to the thoughts of others. Sometimes it takes me awhile to compress what I think and figure it all out, which can sometimes get me into trouble.

While we live in different countries we are not that far apart, he is a geek and I….well I don’t really know who this version of me will turn out to be, but I am excited to find out.

This week alone I have gone through some changes, I have been spending more time at home focusing on myself, for a while. That actually sounds less selfish then it is. Really what I have been doing is focusing on things that make me happy, in my real life I spend a lot of time taking care of those around me helping many people because I love to do it. But the last week or so has really been about “me” about meditating, relaxing, getting my hair and nails done, silly little things like cleaning my house, hanging out with my dog. Things that I feel are vital, absolutely vital to the security of my soul. And I have to say it feels amazing.

For the first time in my life I am really and truly taking a look at the person I am and the person I want to be.

For most of November to March I worked in a homeless shelter *as I have done the past six years* and although I loved it I really did not take time for myself, I didn’t go to meetings, or check in with my sponsor, I did not even touch my steps.

In this week I have made it to two meetings, fellowship with my support group and friends as well as checked in with my sponsor half a dozen times. I am proud of this not because it makes me special but because even without an excuse it is just generally hard for me to reach out for help when I need it.

I have also witnessed two people in my support group sliding dangerously back into their addiction, a year ago even six months ago this would have pushed me back as well, today I know however my job is to pray for them and be there when they answer the phone. To keep them accountable to their truth but only so long as they are willing to take my suggestions, I cannot live sobriety for them only for myself but I can guide them.

This is my 29^th year on this earth and it is my hope that I can open the door to a new future for myself, this begins with this blog, but also with a new job, a new boyfriend and a new great of amazing friends. So I hope you enjoy travelling with me.

Baby Love