Saturday on the boat

The PGA is taking place near where I live. Fortunately, it isn't on the same island but is close enough to cause terrific traffic jams when I leave the island. I can see Tiger Woods' yacht from the water, docked at a resort marina.

I wonder what the pros do when they are done playing for the day. Do they meditate? Socialize with corporate sponsors? Go over video tapes of their shots? Review the next holes in minute detail? I am not a golfer or a fan of the game. But I have been watching a few moments of the PGA because it is happening so close to home. The Ocean Course is taking its toll. And today will bring more storms in the afternoon.

We are out on the boat for the weekend. We have been for a long walk on the beach, had a good breakfast and will probably do some reading, followed by a nap. The new medication appears to be helping my wife. I can't fathom why she quit taking the meds for depression but am grateful that she is doing well now. There are still ups and downs but those have occurred as long as I've known her.

Tomorrow is my Al-Anon birthday. It will be six years for me now. And I can honestly say that I feel so different from the broken person who walked into a meeting those years ago. We had had terrible arguments over her drinking for a couple of months. I was fed up and sick of the failed promises and the embarrassment of being with a blackout drunk. Luckily, a friend in AA told me that I needed to go to Al-Anon. I almost didn't make that first meeting because the directions on the meeting list were wrong! I was driven to be there though and happened to see someone who I asked about the meeting. She knew and told me how to get there. No coincidence, I think.

Nor is it coincidence that I met my sponsor at that meeting. He wasn't there for my first meeting or the second one. When I met him at my third meeting, I felt so much compassion and understanding that I knew I would ask him to be my sponsor. That was the most important step for me and one that got me on the path to self-enlightenment through the steps and traditions.

I am grateful to have friends, my wife, my sponsor and my sanity. I can honestly say that life is far better today than I thought. I was willing. I surrendered. I believed.