Good Morning!
One of my many "stipulations" is that I attend Alcoholics Anonymous weekly. In the very beginning, I had absolutely NO interest in going. I was 20 years old. I was not an alcoholic. I lived the same lifestyle of every college student. A DUI does not make you an alcoholic! I was not excited to have the go around "Hi, my name is Allison and I'm an alcoholic!!" ------but then something happened.
I was blessed to have visited an AA room that was in the heart of the city and filled with an array of people. We had some of the most elite attorneys and doctors buying cups of coffee and snacks for some of the homeless men attending. It was a room full of people wanting to genuinely help other people. The energy in the room was like no other. It was a place to get out of yourself, and to empathize with others and just be there for them. I am not sure if it has to do with society or lack of religion, or what? But we are so caught up in a world that is so caught up in ourselves. It's all about me. How will this benefit me? We get so caught up in worrying about ourselves, that we forget. It is not even about us.I am a firm believer that everything we experience is meant for the good of another. Whether that means someone learns from us or receives hope from seeing us overcome experiences. It is not just about how we are impacted, but how we can impact others in a positive way?
When I was in prison, I met one of the most influential people of my entire life. We will just call him Sgt. He was an example of a true man of God. He did not believe in having "bad days". Are you alive? Then it's a good day. He was one of the people who spoke a lot of wisdom into my life. In the beginning I let a lot of it go in one ear and out of the other. He was a prison officer, what did he know? It was not his life that was drastically changed. He was not the one who had to deal with all of this. His responsibility was to pretty much be a "professional babysitter". He had to make sure we didn't escape or kill each other. Fortunately, he was much more than that. He was an inspiration. He is the one who helped me realize that there was value over my life. If God was finished with me, he would have allowed me to be taken out, but he didn't. He was not finished with me yet. It is by no accident that I survived my accident. Something was meant to come from all of this. Something that was so much bigger than myself. It wasn't even about me. Its about everyone else. He used to say "If something bad happens to you, but it helps someone else, is it still a bad thing?"
We all want to be conquerors, but we do not want to have anything to conquer. We want to grow and become all of these things, but we are not willing to go through the trials to get there. Some really great things can come from great pain. You just have to start believing it and then put in the work to get there. Rebuilding my life is extremely difficult, and I would be lying if I said giving up hadn't crossed my mind (more than once). If I simply gave up, what would all of this had been for? It would have made my entire struggle meaningless. I just cannot accept that. I have been placed on this Earth to help others. It may have taken me 20 years to figure that out, but its never too late to help someone else out. What if your experience could change someones life? Need some encouraging words? Leave me a comment or email me!
Sincerely,
Allison
Allisonsankles@gmail.com
"At the end of the day it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished...It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back." - Denzel Washington
One of my many "stipulations" is that I attend Alcoholics Anonymous weekly. In the very beginning, I had absolutely NO interest in going. I was 20 years old. I was not an alcoholic. I lived the same lifestyle of every college student. A DUI does not make you an alcoholic! I was not excited to have the go around "Hi, my name is Allison and I'm an alcoholic!!" ------but then something happened.
I was blessed to have visited an AA room that was in the heart of the city and filled with an array of people. We had some of the most elite attorneys and doctors buying cups of coffee and snacks for some of the homeless men attending. It was a room full of people wanting to genuinely help other people. The energy in the room was like no other. It was a place to get out of yourself, and to empathize with others and just be there for them. I am not sure if it has to do with society or lack of religion, or what? But we are so caught up in a world that is so caught up in ourselves. It's all about me. How will this benefit me? We get so caught up in worrying about ourselves, that we forget. It is not even about us.I am a firm believer that everything we experience is meant for the good of another. Whether that means someone learns from us or receives hope from seeing us overcome experiences. It is not just about how we are impacted, but how we can impact others in a positive way?
When I was in prison, I met one of the most influential people of my entire life. We will just call him Sgt. He was an example of a true man of God. He did not believe in having "bad days". Are you alive? Then it's a good day. He was one of the people who spoke a lot of wisdom into my life. In the beginning I let a lot of it go in one ear and out of the other. He was a prison officer, what did he know? It was not his life that was drastically changed. He was not the one who had to deal with all of this. His responsibility was to pretty much be a "professional babysitter". He had to make sure we didn't escape or kill each other. Fortunately, he was much more than that. He was an inspiration. He is the one who helped me realize that there was value over my life. If God was finished with me, he would have allowed me to be taken out, but he didn't. He was not finished with me yet. It is by no accident that I survived my accident. Something was meant to come from all of this. Something that was so much bigger than myself. It wasn't even about me. Its about everyone else. He used to say "If something bad happens to you, but it helps someone else, is it still a bad thing?"
We all want to be conquerors, but we do not want to have anything to conquer. We want to grow and become all of these things, but we are not willing to go through the trials to get there. Some really great things can come from great pain. You just have to start believing it and then put in the work to get there. Rebuilding my life is extremely difficult, and I would be lying if I said giving up hadn't crossed my mind (more than once). If I simply gave up, what would all of this had been for? It would have made my entire struggle meaningless. I just cannot accept that. I have been placed on this Earth to help others. It may have taken me 20 years to figure that out, but its never too late to help someone else out. What if your experience could change someones life? Need some encouraging words? Leave me a comment or email me!
Sincerely,
Allison
Allisonsankles@gmail.com
"At the end of the day it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished...It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back." - Denzel Washington
Comments
Post a Comment