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.
The C2C reading for today, October 8 speaks of the importance of gratitude. It suggests that often we arrive at the doors ofr Al-Anon angry and fearful. WE lave lost faith in god and often miss his manacles that often touch our lives Alanon welcomed me in and offered constructive tools to live by ss well as the warmth of others who truly understood
When I first found the rooms of Al-Anon I was far from feeling grateful I thought I was alone and nobody else had these problems to deal with. I was grateful to have found the rooms and to be given the tools that I do use today to live
Gratitude is h part of my daily existence today,as I walk andwitness the beauty of the world. I am grateful for my sight and to the liabilitys to appreciate the world.
Thank you so much Betty for your service and today's reading. I find when I am getting irritable and my mind is spinning I will start reciting the Serenity Prayer like a mantra and then review my gratitude list that I make each night...trying to add a thing or two. It definitely takes me down from the ledge when I think about all that is right with my life! If I'm not too far gone, I also try to be grateful for whatever unpleasant thing is happening. There has to be a lesson in there somewhere and it is another opportunity to practice my alanon tools.
I was raised doom and gloom and it is through this program that I have learned to appreciate and be grateful every single day.
Ellen
-- Edited by El on Tuesday 8th of October 2019 09:19:31 AM
In the beginning, I was asked to write a Gratitude List. It was so short, and my woes so long!! I thought to myself, "Why should I do this? There isn't a whole lot to be grateful for obviously!" My sponsor told me to, "Trust the process."
I think back to that time and I just laugh at my folly! There must be a hundred little things each day that I could be grateful for!!! Those Gratitude Lists made me SEE. They showed me that even in the darkest hours, I had something to be grateful for! Maybe it was just one thing... didn't matter. It was a proverbial life-preserver.
Today, as I commute to work, I mentally go through my Gratitude List... and then thank my HP for those things! I find that it puts me in the best of moods! What a way to start your day!
My mother (who is not that old), has lived with impaired hearing for the last 10 years, and has slowly lost her sight over the last 5 years. She has aged probably 20 years in attitude b/c of it. Each day I see her slipping away, and I think about how vivacious & active she would/could still be. It makes me sad. Therefore, that is my first Gratitude on my list every day... that I have entered this day with my ears - to hear my beloved classical music, the birds twittering in the trees, and my dear pets - and my eyes; which allow me to move about my world, go to work and be productive, and to delight in all the colors of each season!
What are you grateful for today?
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"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend
"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness." Mary Oliver
Thanks so much Betty for your service and all above shares. My sponsor had me write a gratitude each day along with an asset. This felt so IMPOSSIBLE! What was there to be grateful for and I couldnt see but a couple assets of mine. The daily homework was so difficult. Fast forward a number of years, things have changed for me, thanks to all program has to offer and wonderful guidance. Just two days ago I felt the disappointment and frustration of living with my dry drunk. And it didnt take long for me to make a conscious choice, that this unpleasantness was not going to destroy me or my day. In fact I decided to have the best day I could, including a walk outside with my dogs which is something I love. I realized I also put on a pair of very comfy leggings that brought me warmth and peace. If we work it , it works. Lyne
...I used to say- that I went from the paralysis of analysis- to an attitude of gratitude. I remember that change- and shift in focus. I became grateful for life itself. I used to say- that I didn't ask to be born. Then considered the alternative to being born. I applied the serenity prayer to this. To accept my existence and begin to make the most of it. At the moments looking for another hand-hold- on the power greater than myself. Easier than "within reach". More like power within. A guiding light. Thanks.
Happy Tuesday MIP! For me, gratitude is not optional, it's necessary. At any point on any day, at any time, I can focus on all that I have and have been blessed with or I can focus on what I don't have, but want or what is broken. The latter is what brings me down and the former sure makes my days, life and overall experience much, much better.
Today, I have been Sober in AA for 32 years. For those with a spouse, child or loved one affected with the disease of addiction, there is always hope. There are some in my life who still believe I am not worthy, the 'black-sheep' and a host of other 'titles' which I prove wrong, one day at a time by embracing recovery, and a loving higher power.
I still wonder often why me and not ............................................... simply because so many others, equally worthy, were not able to get sober. I know in my heart they wanted it as much as I did, and yet they outcome was different. I am not better, smarter or anything else - just blessed with sobriety/recovery, one day at a time. All that I am and all that I do is a direct result of embracing 12 Step recovery and I truly am beyond words grateful.
We lost a long-time member last year or two years ago. This man had gotten sober, then gotten sick, lost some jobs, ended up homeless, and I could go on and on. If one believed in a 'black cloud' theory, he was a walking poster child for it. However, in spite of many, many set-backs in his life, he remained sober until he died in his sleep from complications from diabetes. In every meeting he ever attended, after his share, he said, "It's all about the gratitude!" He was my humility hero, taught me so, so much about gratitude and recovery success and is missed greatly. So, today, I leave you with his tagline, It's all about the gratitude family! (((Hugs)))
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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging. Pause before assuming. Pause before accusing. Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret. ~~~~ Lori Deschene
Gratitude!! Sure wasn't on my list when I first started recovery, but SLOOOOOWLY it began to seep in, giving thanks for the disasters that did NOT happen, giving thanks that I have a place to go with my fears, issues, changing defects...Oh yea....
This week I get to work for this one old, loyal client , 2 days...BOOOY do I need it...of course it will be another 2 weeks, but NOT Going to go there...THIS week, is gonna be OK.....GRATITUDE to the universe for that
another thing I am practicing and sometimes it is through gritted teeth, thanking universe for abundance as tho I really have it NOW....so I do it in visuals, and I VISUALIZE myself having my needs and even some wants MET, and its NOW, under grace and I SEE me in my visual planning all the things I am gonna do, like upgrades to the house, etc., giving thanks in my visuals....it raises my energy vibrations so my sub conscious mind CAN and WILL bring me my needs....
(((((((((((((PnP)))))))))))))))))) that was a lovely share!!!! its funny, even when the day SUCKS, I can see the little flower in all that manure that was my day (yesterday) for one...I saw even if they were little, I saw stuff I could say..."well I am grateful that xxxx did not happen, or xxxx DID happen" and it changes my vibrations....
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