An Invincible Summer - A Woman's Journey

One of the ACA concepts is Emotional Sobriety. The idea that when something occurs that tries to draw me in to turmoil, I can decide how I will respond. I can choose to be thin skinned, indignant, sullen or just plain hurt. Those feelings are quite normal for me. They call that being addicted to excitement or the “inner drug store”, where the default is DRAMA. These last couple of weeks have not been without a few bumps. Families can be complex, to say the least. I have spent some time crossing my arms and stomping my inner child feet WITHOUT allowing that to come to the surface. I comforted my inner girl and reminded her that others are going through hard times and that it's not personal. And, truthfully, even if it was personal, I can still choose to not take part and give up my inner peace.  It's not swallowing emotions or allowing someone to treat me bad. It's more about being a big girl and not allowing another person to needlessly ruin my day, or worse, get me to say ...

I am #5 of 6 kids and I use the term "kids" loosely. My oldest sister is 63 and my younger brother is 51. We are a tight knit group except for one. My brother John, who is 55, has been the black sheep since day one. He has been in and out of our lives and when he is in, it is usually difficult or strained at best. Our mom instilled inside of each of us an intense loyalty. She never verbalized it but it is there just the same. All four of us girls are very close and we adore our "baby" brother. And even though we love him, John is another story.  He was the one that ran with the "bad" crowd in school. He was the one that my teachers would scowl about when they heard my last name on the first day of school. He and my mom were escorted by a police officer to sign him up for the military before he came of age....it was that or juvie. Thinned skinned and negative, he has lived with nearly every one of us for a period of time, here and there. Because...