Family Obligations

 I don’t stop being a parent just because my children are grown. I’m still a daughter, even though my parents died years ago. I’m a sister, an auntie, and a Nana to people who are alive and well. I am as involved in their lives as they allow.

How do I determine what my family obligations are when all live far from me? How can I maintain a spiritual connection with my Creator which excludes those I love? I don’t believe I can - nor do I want to. 

I spent my drinking years blind to the needs of my family. It is the greatest regret of my life. My sobriety is my gift to myself and them, but how does it manifest? How does it affect my spiritual connection? What amends have I made, and how can I offer living amends in a real way? 

I must maintain balance in my personal as well as my spiritual life. I am taught to look deeply at harms I have done, whether purposefully or by neglect, and to make whatever amends I can. In the case of my parents, I make ‘living amends’ to others. With living family members, I follow through on promises made and refrain from making promises I can’t keep. I acknowledge what I did or didn’t do, and make an honest attempt to make it right. When I mess up - and I do - I own it right away and do whatever I can to keep it from festering.

When I live in a state of seeing myself honestly, without the blinders of the past, I am more able to maintain a true connection with the Power of Love - that which always links us together.

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