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Post Info TOPIC: Online Alanon Meeting


Senior Member

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Posts: 130
Date:
Online Alanon Meeting


I participated in an online alanon meeting earlier.  In the beginning, they asked for new people to introduce themselves and give a short description of their qualifier and how he/she acts.  Someone told me that I didn't really belong in alanon because I'm not being abused or mistreated and his drinking doesn't cause problems in my life.

I have been wondering if that might be true.  I see everyone sharing stories about the struggles they go through and the things they have to deal with and I feel a little out of place because it isn't like that for me.  We don't fight or argue about his drinking.  He isn't abusive in any way.  He doesn't expect me to take care of him or give him money or anything else.  I don't have to clean up his messes or fix problems he's caused.  I don't have to pick up the slack because he isn't taking care of his own responsibilities.  I don't feel angry or resentful.  He hasn't lied to me.  He has promised me one time that he was going to quit drinking.  Before that, he didn't make any promises and I didn't expect him to.  Since his promise, he hasn't had a single drink.  I've seen him every day and I know when he's been drinking.  There's a tiny change in his voice and I can smell alcohol from a mile away and a lot of other tiny things that a lot of people wouldn't notice but I do.

So, was she right?  Should I stop participating in alanon stuff?



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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
Date:

It's about you, not about him.
You could attend al-anon daily for the rest of your life and never mention your qualifier or qualifiers ever again.
Al-anon is for recovering from the harmful effects of living with someone else's alcoholism at any point in our lives. Have you been affected by someone's alcoholism/addictive behaviours somewhere down the line? Then congratulations, you qualify for a lifetime membership and a t-shirt

Sounds very strange for an online al-anon meeting to request information about qualifiers and their behaviour. I don't even know where to begin with that but it doesn't sound very al-anon to me at all.

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If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



Senior Member

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Posts: 130
Date:

My boyfriend's behavior now really doesn't affect me. If he drinks, its on him. Like I said, he doesn't mistreat or harm me. My ex's meth addiction definitely did. He was abusive - mentally and physically - controlling, jealous, and completely insane. We went to Glamis - its a dune buggy event - and supposedly I slipped him something so he would sleep and sneaked out of the tent and had a threesome with 2 guys. He kept beating me, insisting that I tell him the truth but I wouldn't admit to something I didn't do. I thought he was going to kill me. I still have issues from him.
I've done a couple of online meetings and this is the first one where they asked me to mention my qualifier. I guess John isn't so much my qualifier as Slade - my ex - is. He's the one who damaged me. I swear, one of these days, my neighbors are going to hear me when I wake up screaming and call the cops and I'm going to have to convince them that I'm not being murdered; I'm just having nightmares about my ex beating the crap out of me.

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~*Service Worker*~

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It sounds to me you have been affected by alcoholism. Most people have. It can even be a couple of generations away. I believe only you can decide if you belong. You seem adamant your alcoholic partner s drinking has no impact on you so maybe you are sharing very differently from others in meetings. We must keep the focus on the program during meetings not only for ourselves but others too. Usually we share our experience which is how the disease effected us. The damage it done too us. If you believe there is no damage then maybe your not keeping the focus on the alanon program. Just a suggestion. We also share our strength, this is what alanon has given us in terms of the tools we have learned to use and how our lives have improved as a result. Are you in the recovery program? If not, again, you may find it difficult to keep the focus. It's important that meetings are focused on alanon otherwise it can get lost and become just a general chit chat that is not about recovering from this disease and general every day chit chats can be found anywhere.

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Senior Member

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Posts: 130
Date:

She asked me who I was and who my qualifier was and then she asked me how his drinking affected me. All I did was answer and she said, "If his disease isn't causing you problems, maybe alanon isn't right for you" and then asked the next person to talk. That was all I said throughout the meeting - well, typed. The rest of the time, I just read what everyone else was saying.

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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1887
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What bought you to al-anon in the first place? Do you like what you've found and do you think it will benefit you?
That's pretty much all you need to ask yourself. You've been mistreated in the past by substance abusers, your current boyfriend drinks more than you'd like, there's nothing to argue here. if you like what you've found then you belong.
None of your qualifiers need be discussed or "declared eligible". I'll repeat, asking about your qualifiers and judging them worthy or unworthy is a long way outside of any al-anon principles that I am familiar with. I'd try a different meeting and forget about this incident if it were me.

__________________

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see? (Lewis Caroll)



~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 3613
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I'm also not familiar with querying people about their qualifiers or telling them that Al-Anon isn't for them.  That sounds a little weird and off to me.  There are also many people in Al-Anon who separated from their qualifiers some time ago, or whose qualifiers stopped drinking years ago, or whose qualifiers have passed away.  Those people are just as entitled to be in Al-Anon as someone whose qualifer is sitting down the hall drinking.  We are all in Al-Anon because we are concerned about someone else drinking or being addicted to whatever, and because we want better tools to handle what life throws at us and to handle the effects of addiction in those around us.  Even after we separate from our addicts, unless we get our own recovery, tools, and understanding, we may be in a bad position to handle things coming down the road at us, or to cope with the aftereffects of having been in that kind of relationship. 

Your former relationship certainly counts as the kind that calls for healing and recovery.  If your current bf stays on the straight and narrow, that is excellent.  But also Al-Anon can help with knowing what to do if he should start to drink again, because whether he does or not, it is helpful for us to be armed with knowing how to keep our serenity no matter what happens.  That puts us in a position of strength and calmness.  Al-Anon can help us tell the difference between concern and paranoia (I often used to mistake one for the other and vice versa), and figure out when there really is a problem and what to do if our worries are just making our lives difficult.  The tools have helped me so much that I pretty much thinking everyone on the planet could use some more familiarity with them.  So I would never discourage someone from coming and learning.  And sadly, there are enough alcoholics around that I think we'll all have the chance to practice the tools somewhere in our lives on a real live alcoholic.



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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 17196
Date:

WL I would suggest that you find another meeting- I also second what everyone else has shared.

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Betty

THE HIGHEST FORM OF WISDOM IS KINDNESS

Talmud


~*Service Worker*~

Status: Offline
Posts: 1662
Date:

I come from it on both sides, that alone qualifies me.

My father was an A whom abandoned us and my mother
Is dysfunctional Then i married a dry A. None of those things
Are unusual to bring someone to alanon. I should have started
Years ago, Too afraid or not ready not sure which one, Kicking
Myself now.

Whiskey face to face meetings are great, it takes time to
Just sit and listen, learn and absorb all the esh. You do not
Need to speak just go with an open mind and willingness to
Change and grow.

(((((( whiskey ))))))



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Senior Member

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Posts: 111
Date:

I agree with everyone as well. A well-run Alanon meeting would never encourage discussion around specifics of qualifiers. Al-Anon is a recovery program about US. It's about ME. I wasn't even sure my boyfriend had a 'true' problem, but it doesn't matter. His use of several addictive substances affected me. It affected my thinking, my attitude, it caused me discomfort, fear of repeating a past painful pattern. That was 'enough' of an affect for me to get my rear back to the rooms and stay here for the rest of my life.

With the Grace of God, I hope that I do not gain any new 'qualifiers' but even if I don't, I still need this program. In fact, my program will help me to NOT become involved with another addict. So I will keep coming back. And for me, I have come to add my qualifiers to my gratitude list - because if not for them, I would not be evolving into the person I am becoming. Because of them, I am becoming spiritually awakened. I may not have come to this point if not for them.

If I sat in any meeting where I was asked to name a qualifier and how I am 'affected', I would quietly exit the meeting. No one has to justify their presence here, other than the one qualification of membership - I have been affected by the drinking of a loved one. Period.

((hugs))

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"There will be an answer.  Let it be." ~ The Beatles



Senior Member

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Posts: 210
Date:

Wow, and I thought I had attended a messes up meeting or two. That really takes the cake!

I have followed many of your posts and I feel you are most certainly with friends here who understand your issues and who care. Please don't let one ignorant person make you question where you belong.

Are you finding "help and understanding here)? MINUS THE IGNORANT PERSON! Sorry for the caps, but this type of grandiose behavior makes me very upset! You belong where you feel you belong!

I just sent you a private message before I saw this thread. Please take the time to look at it when you get a chance.

Please don't leave this group, as we need you as much as you need us. We all learn from each other and what you went through was wrong. If alcohol has ever affected you, you qualify.

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There, but for the Grace of God, go I.



~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 13696
Date:

 

 

Also the principle of anonymity suggest that we do not talk about anyone else's addiction...AA or Al-Anon....principle was broken I believe...he was not there to defend himself for another.   (((hugs))) confuse



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Senior Member

Status: Offline
Posts: 130
Date:

Thanks - I've only been to a couple of online meetings so I wasn't sure if it was unusual or not. I can't make it to a face to face meeting. There's only one a week here and I work. I could request a few hours off, but I really can't afford to miss any work at all right now. I really need to pay my rent - I don't want to face homelessness.

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~*Service Worker*~

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Posts: 1896
Date:

Al Anon is an organization that is almost entirely non-centralized, almost to the point that the individuals make decisions about whether they are qualified or not. We take the tack that since we don't really know what is going on inside of your head, the objective becomes for US to figure out what is going on inside our head, then you can make up your own mind whether you are qualified. Sometimes, it is obvious, others not, because the question always comes up "how do I know she/he is an alcoholic". That is when Al Anon generally answers "if the drinking is bothering you, the n you qualify". Perhaps your moderator is extrapolating from that.

If you look at Al Anon's Tradition 3, you will see that "The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of alcoholism in a relative or friend." Also, Tradition 5 states that: " Each Al-Anon Family Group has but one purpose: to help families of alcoholics".

So, under those traditions, and, given what you have said, you qualify. It is up to you to know if the disease is/has/was causing you problems, it isn't for us to judge that.

Please keep coming back, we are all in this journey together, that is why we are called a Family Group!

Kenny

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