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.
Bill talks about self appraisal and doing it alone, and how it really isn't enough, And that it is really necessary to tell your HP and at least one other person, to really get free....
Only by discussing ourselves, holding back nothing, only by being willing to take advice and accept direction could we set foot on the road to straight thinking, solid honesty, and genuine humility.
when I first got into recovery I didn't use my real name of Rose, anywhere because at that time in my life, I was so ashamed of me, shame based...and scared I would not be loved because of all that happened to me......NOW, Yea, I use mamalioneess however you all know my real first name, but I still feel anonymous because no last name, address and because of that, I can Reeeeeely be brutally honest with myself , to me...to my HP within AND to my recovery mates, because I know that if I don't share it, I'll be as sick as my secrets...and "solo confessions" just don't work for me, its like emptying the trash into the dumpster and you only dump 1/2 of the refuse...you still got 1/2 of it left for the insects to feast on later....Steps 4, 10 became my best friends because I could totally let it all hang out...the good, bad and the ugly and STILL be accepted and told to "keep coming back" and invariably, I would find someone who could relate to my shares...
I have spent a lot of time thinking about Lois and Bill. In the first 10 years of being in Alanon I found out as much as I could about them. I visited their home, 2012. I sat at the folding table- in their kitchen and heard about the conversation between Abby and Bill that got the whole ball rolling. [and I wept a bucket of tears- tears of gratitude.
Around that- it is about connection, a deep abiding connection with ourselves, our higher power and with other people. Trusting and bonding adult to adult... and with a deep abiding faith- that has no bounds. ...
no need to name it exactly...
and I sense it too with you Rosie... on a day by day basis.
It comes into focus around all people in recovery, including our Alanon family.