The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
I have always felt that we here in al anon do not talk enough about some of the more immediate, material consequences of the family disease--that our loved ones break promises, over and over again; that we feel at a loss to explain why it is our loved ones behave in bizarre and inappropriate ways to those we love and who have watched with dispair as the alcholism has taken hold in our lives; that, especially for our children, sometimes the reasonings we use to keep our lives in their balences really don't make sense to anyone else but us because of what we live this. I got this in my email, and it reminds me of how I've had to work extremely hard at changing my attitudes about money and self worth--many of you know that there was an extensive period of time when I linked the two together, and not even God could break the chain. Today, I don't want to say I don't have that problem, I have no doubt that, given the right circumstances, I'll be back there. But I do have a new prospective on the 7th tradition and how I can live my own life, without being the next Ivana Trump. I hope that this reading helps those of you, too, in that position.
Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy the type of misery you can live with. -- Zibby
We think to ourselves, "Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about the washer breaking down?" "Wouldn't it be nice to drive a reliable car?" "Wouldn't it be nice to take a Caribbean vacation every year?" "Wouldn't it be nice not to have to work?" If we had money, we think, at least we wouldn't have to worry so much and could live comfortably.
True. Money buys external comfort - plush couches and chairs, luxury cars, beautiful environments. Money buys what comforts and soothes us on the outside. And, if we're going to be miserable anyway, why not do it in comfort?
We remember that regardless of our surroundings, misery is misery. Unless we have the right attitude, we'll find something wrong with whatever we have or don't have. When we work on improving our inner world on alleviating the real cause of our misery - we know true comfort. We know serenity.
Today I know that the better I get, the richer I become.
I received this same message from a friend. He added a quote at the bottom that had me laughing. It said, "Churches tell us money is the root of all evil, yet they keep asking for more."
