Since I have been On-line it has been a wonderful experience to see the many ways that we express ourselves and let each of us know we are not alone in any step of Al-Anon, to include our first step in the "door."  Poetry has been used in my meetings and in these postings, which is a wonderful venue of self-expression.  When I saw the poetry here, it made me dig into a very old box of my own.  I found this poem I wrote in college, let's just say that I don't believe it's coincidence that I came across it to share right now.  I had to do a "study" on the various recovery programs.  The one that intrigued me the most was the Twelve Steps.  I did my research on the Al-Anon 12-Steps and wrote this poem which I included in my final college paper.  No accident that my HP put me in the path of that "study."  No accident again that I would choose the Twelve Steps for my own recovery a few years later.  Life is amazing, everything for a reason, I say.

A New View

Do you have an alcoholic in your life?

Are you the relative, the friend, husband or wife?

Are you an enabler in any way?

Do you constantly hope they will quit some day?

Do you think your love will help them quit?

Or do you see it as a problem only they can admit?

Have you realized you are powerless to have them change?

That it is your own heart and life you must rearrange?

Perhaps you are on your last thread of hope

Perhaps you are just seeking a new way to cope

No matter where you are in the life of this addiction

You do not have to be a product of its affliction

Open your heart and take a new view

Begin with your own life and what you want to do

Your fight with alcohol has gone on long enough

The days have slipped past you and the road has been tough

There is a very good reason I write these things to you

Alcohol is a disease, it isn’t treated with what you say or do

It is a cross you were never meant to carry or bear

Which is why it becomes easier in a Higher Power’s care

You are not letting go of the hope or the love

You can still pray to your Higher Power above

The difference is letting your Power be the guide

So that you can live life and no longer hide

What does this mean and what does it do?

It puts the ability of something greater ahead of you

It means focusing on what you want to do every day

Not the alcohol, which has been your mainstay

It means turning over completely your fear and worry

Not allowing your will to alter someone else’s Life Story

Alcoholics have their own path to take

By trying to write their Chapters your quality of life is at stake

You may have children, family and friends who have missed you

They have lost the best of you given your “old view”

Alcohol can drain you in so many ways

Welcome this opportunity to begin a new life of better days

Share and receive many gifts of love, continue to search and grow

There is more to life and for your life that you have yet to know

Take care of your own responsibilities in life and do your best

Let your Creator, Higher Power or God do the rest

It sounds too simple, too good to be true

That letting go of the alcohol is the best thing to do

But I invite you to at least try it and see what takes place

If only to have inner peace and one less tear upon your face