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.
Steps 2 and 3 can be touchy topics- at least- at the beginning. If I get a chance to sponsor someone I would ask that they do steps 2 and 3 in a group first. For preference anyway. Because the input we get from others is invaluable.
I think that even the very religious get lots of of any pf our 12 Step programmes. It is very practical- and it works.
Our mum forbade any discussion of religion or politics. People in drinking situations seem to be like this- to avoid any conflict!
So if there is no discussion and resolution of some things- then things stay the same.
Handing things over can become a habit! OMG! We might even begin to feel better, live better and make better decisions!
Thanks so much for the reading and the topic, Debs. ...
I have had to deal with the ex roommate in the past week. He is deliberately really irritating. Everything is an emeency for him. All boundaries have to be oblitersted
Thankfully I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I.am looking at weeks. I have had many many people in my life like him. In fact I know it is a constant issue
I have a big agenda ahead. I know the day is coming where I do not have to deal with him.anymore. i will ne singing Hallelujah for sure .
I know other people lke him. They are exoerts af gettng under your skin. Absolute exoerts!!
Thank you for your service Debb and for all above shares. When I think of Let go and let God, I also think of Live and let live. Both of these slogans help me in times of despair, along with the Serenity Prayer. My first sponsor Betty taught me: I can't, He can, I will let Him. Just another great piece of advice from our program. I know trying to handle my spouse's drinking by myself, landed me in the most uncomfortable emotional state of my adult life. Yes I am powerless and I need all the help I can get--HP, MIP, my new sponsor, my F2F/zoom, program friends, etc. I gladly accept it all....
Thank you Debb for your service and the daily. Thank you all for your shares and ESH. What I love about our program and the many tools, including the slogan of today - Let Go & Let God - is we can apply the principles in all our affairs. I see myself in the Reminder and am reminded of how 'it' used to be. I would do all that I knew to solve a problem, and when things went different, I kept at it...I wore myself (and others) out trying to fix so many things that were not mine to resolve alone.
Practicing trusting a power greater than me has been a journey. Each day, I pray in the morning for my HP to keep me sober, sane, serene and of service. I pray for courage to trust in the will of my HP, and to set aside my own will. It's much easier for me to let go and let God when I make that daily decision to set aside my own will and ego for my best chance at a peaceful day.
I am happy to report that my parents have both gotten the first shot of the vaccine and have the second dose scheduled. I have become the 'scheduler' for their friends simply because the online process is a bit confusing and they are all seniors, with way less computer/internet skills. It's a frustrating experience as the demand is greater than the supply, finding appointments is challenging and the systems in AZ and my state both time out from high volume. Yet, stepping up to help with this has kept my mind busy while I begin to process my friend's passing.
I am grateful that Al-Anon has given me a purpose no matter what's going on. I am extremely sad about the loss yet am able to still function - vastly different than before I embraced this journey. So, so many life events used to stop me in my tracks and I'd be 'stuck' in space/time unable to accept or move. I know now that action, any action helps me 'loosen' my thoughts, and step out of the darkness. The sun has just come out, and I've opened the blinds.
Love and light all - make it a great day...
__________________
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
Thanks for your service Debb <3 . I agree with David these are touchy steps in the beginning. For myself I feel today that opportunities to let go and let God don't stop being opportunities. I used to think "achievement" in alanon and indeed life would be the moment when doing the prescribed abd "right" thing would simply occur like a natural response without effort or thought. Today I see my role as an active one. I have to choose to let go and let God and then actively put the choice into practice. It's work! And it works when you work it suddenly becomes clear. Have a wonderful day MIP.
Hi Debb. For me, when I first came into Alanon, and saw that slogan, Let Go and Let God, I can remember the relief that I felt. I thought that I could let go of everything and God would handle it all. Finally, I could rest and let someone else carry the burdens that I had been and still was for so long, and I was totally exhausted. I was the Caretaker, had been since early childhood, believing that I could protect my younger brothers from the violence from our Mother. Went on to protect my 3 Children from the violence from their Alcoholic Father. I was a natural, had all the requirements, strong will, stubborn, and cared for the ones, I was protecting. They needed protecting. Keeping everything together was also what I did best.
By the time I found Alanon, I had been beaten down by the Disease and Effects. But I still hung in there. Determined not to give in. So that slogan meant so much to me, it was a saviour, then I got a shock to actually learn through meetings, and listening and learning, that it didn't mean what I thought it meant. I still had to work at it. It took a while to sink in, and to learn what my part was supposed to be. The Footwork. I struggled with it for so long, because I couldn't let go and Trust someone I couldn't touch, I use to think that I would have to Let Go before God would help me, and I knew I couldn't. Until I read somewhere, that someone else said, that everytime she had to let go, the issue had claw marks in it. Oh, did that help me, I wasn't the only one in program that had a problem like me.
Where am I today with it, much much better. Because I really know that He has My Will, and my life, and He knows He has my trust, I have resigned from being Mrs God and have relinquished control. My life is much more smoother. He has become my greatest friend, a partner who walks through life with me. When I do Step 3 and 11 with Him each morning, my day goes so much better.
My mother use to say to others,"Look at Wendy, she has the whole world on her shoulders." That was so true, and I use to say to myself, I not only had the whole world, I had all the Stars and the Moon and the whole universe, that was why I am only 5foot 1 Tall. I can honestly say all of them are not on my shoulders now, they are back where they belong.
Steps 2 and 3 can be touchy topics- at least- at 
Thanks so much for the reading and the topic, Debs.