And add a little hope

So I had my first in a series of classes at Kaiser to help me overcome my compulsive eating. (For those of you who didn't know... wait, where have you been? I have known this for years! :-D ) It was interesting, but of course just scratched the surface... but we do have 9 more classes to cover more material. I felt a little weird when I was the only one who could honestly say that I have experience all types of binge eating (although on a usual basis I only experience two) but I was the only one who had not tried more than five diets or more and failed. Just a couple for me. But lots to learn... Anyway, getting back on my point of the post, we were 15 minutes into the class when a lady I knew from my anxiety groups in the spring rushes in the door. I was very excited because since the groups ended, I have thought about her a lot. She was in the anxiety groups because she was facing some possible (and serious) health problems (I can't be more specific for confidentiality reasons). As I got to know her then, I became absolutely amazed at how strong she was and how much empathy she had for everyone in the group, despite her situation being much more scary than ours. She was a great listener and always had something supportive to offer others... Well, I haven't seen her in over two months, and I will tell you I have been praying for her (yes, I pray in my own way... recognizing individual spirituality is a really good thing) throughout that time. After the class, we spent a few minutes catching up on how things are going for us over the last couple months... I was so relieved to hear that she is ok!!! I don't think I smiled that much in a while. Even more amazing, she remembered everything I was going through back then and asked me about it today (even though she could have possibly been through hell and back the last two months) and we talked about my progress as well. Then we got on to what brought us to the class today and a few other things, and it turns out we have quite a bit in common in the area of what we are seeking help for. I felt I had an ally and am actually looking forward to these classes for the next nine weeks. I came home, put on some music and danced in the kitchen while I made dinner. The whole experience made me remember the fortune cookie post, and thought that sometimes, when you least expect it, a little hope glows in front of you.

~Wildflower