Quinte Area Support Group Hosting Up for Grabs

Hi everyone. I have to say how happy and proud I am of the many many valuable friends and friendships that I have developed on my journey through WLS over the last two years. It has meant a lot to me and has enhanced my life in so many ways. It is, with great regret, that I have decided to discontinue my attempts at hosting informal meetings in my home or elsewhere. I am finding there to be way too many negatives involved with the so-called "support" group umbrella. Although the friendships I have developed will continue to grow, the confrontations, gossip, inaccuracies are becoming too much and too difficult to manage while attempting to manage a positive outcome with my own addictions and concerns.

Over the first part of my losing the weight quickly I discovered so many aspects about myself that I did not like and could not live with comfortably. Unfortunately my struggles to exist as a thinner person in the world were met with so much negativity both in my own world and the support group world that my journey was actually more difficult in the end. I have recently discovered some incredible resources of support that I have made bounds of progress with recently that I'm learning I do not need to accept the negative experiences or people who have been intruding in my life.

I do have to say that those of you I value, know I value you and I would like to continue to attend the Kingston meetings and other support group meetings in the area on occasion and would like to share those with you. I simply cannot include negative people or experiences as I move forward in my life.

I do hope there is someone available who would like to provide a more wide spread access to support group meetings or coffee nights in the Belleville area. There is a need for it and I have been contacted by several new people interested in attending. Instead of closed coffee nights, it would be nice to expand this to include the new members and pay forward the gift we have all received. Please just open your hearts AND your minds and not be judgemental about a person until you really get to know them. If anyone would like email addresses or phone numbers of the new members I have been contacted by, please let me know. OH is the best place to post information as new people tend to migrate there.

I thank each and everyone of you for the experiences you have given me and perhaps one day I can share my new experiences and be able to pay even more of my changes and education forward.

Many happy regards and easy does it days!
Tina Sawicki.