stigma

Yesterday I gave a workshop at the church we have been attending for about 18 months. The material was based on my book Broken by Addiction Blessed by God.  It seemed essential that I share some of my own story since it is threaded through the book and is part of the journey of recovery in the book. However most of the women that I know at the church and who were signed up for the workshop do not know I am a recovering alcoholic.

I felt very vulnerable---once again. The stigma of being a woman alcoholic is alive and well!---and it's not just in my head. There is still a strong stigma to be a woman alcoholic or to having anything close to labeled a mental illness. Just read the newspapers or headlines of the papers in the rack as you wait to check out groceries. Tsk-tsk!The women at the workshop showed no signs of judgment and the day focused primarily on the human issues of self image, traditional roles, ineffective communication, grief and loss, medical issues, and anger and abuse. But when any of us put our personal story out there, we are vulnerable.

And yet---when we put our personal story out there, there is a chance someone will connect with it; someone will identify a similar situation; someone will find an opening, however small, to consider making a change in their own life; someone will find hope. There is a chance for "the kingdom of God to break through."

That risk is "living into the promises of God." He does not judge. He forgives.

Do you risk sharing your story? Do you hope to touch someone in their pain?

Blessings-Penny