Experience

Experience:  An actual living through an event or events; personally undergoing or observing something or things in general as they occur.


Herr Luber's visit reminded me of another great truth of life; namely, that our experiences are going to find a kindred soul sooner or later.  The Program definition is a bit harsh on this matter, stating that: "No matter how far down the scale we have gone we can see how our experiences can benefit another."  This is only fitting considering the harshness of addiction.  Nonetheless, the wisdom gained from an experience that's then shared with another is one of the greatest gifts we can pass on in our attempt to be of service.


To clarify a bit: I'm not suggesting that Herr Luber was in such dire straits that he needed the counsel of a Horse-faced guy who had gone way, way down the scale of human misery, but it was getting close to that point.


My friend is trying to find a place to settle down and call home after many years of frequent transfers.  We call it finding a Headquarters.  The guy has me beat to hell when it comes to moving all over the world but I'm living in my 7th city so I'm not a novice at finding a new home.  I hope that I was able to provide some wisdom.  If I was it surely wasn't innate wisdom -- it was the result of a hard experience.


I remember arriving at a hotel near the airport just 10 months ago, all of my possessions in a truck somewhere in the middle of the country.  We didn't know it yet but the apartment we had reserved was not going to work out, so we didn't have a place to live.  I was exhausted beyond belief.  It was raining cats and dogs and it was the middle of the night, 3AM body time.  SuperK and I had hand-carried all of our valuable papers and jewelry with us on the plane; it was disheartening to see my life summed up in these few bags and packages.  I was . . . ahem . . . not feeling very chipper.  We kept looking at each other with terrified  looks on our faces.  


"Who's idea was this again?" someone asked.
"What the hell are we doing here, exactly?" someone else asked.


It went like this for a while.  Over the next week we had a few arguments over ridiculous, ridiculous things.  We weren't arguing over who had misplaced the passports or where the last Clark bar was -- we were simply overwhelmed.


It all worked out.  It wasn't especially easy and it wasn't especially smooth but it all worked out.   And I was pretty mentally tough son of a bitch before the move.  I'm a tad tougher today.


 That's the message.  It's all going to work out.