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 reading for Monday, 6/14, begins like this: If someone were to say to me: Here is a medicine that can change your whole life for the better; it will put you in a state of relaxed serenity; help you overcome the nagging undercurrent of guilt for past errors, give you new insight into yourself and your spiritual value, and let you meet lifes challenges with confidence and courage. Would you take it? THESE ARE THE PROMISES OF THE TWELVE STEPS OF A.A. AND ALANON.
My choice will be to take this beneficial medicine and let its healing magic work in me.
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When I read this passage I thought, wait a minute, that sounds like the real answer to all my problems. Could this be so? This program can give me serenity, eliminate past guilt, gain new insight, and become more confident and courageous? Well actually, ODAT, this is exactly whats happening as I lean into program. Its not that a everything is perfect everydayheck no. But a whole lot of good has happened and continues to happen to me as I work this program. And it doesnt mean I can do nothingI have to do lots of work and practice and pay good attention. I practice this program daily, and I am reaping the rewards.
Thank you Lyne for this reading, your service and ESH!!
If I were asked that question.....
"Here is a medicine that can change your whole life for the better; it will put you in a state of relaxed serenity; help you overcome the nagging undercurrent of guilt for past errors, give you new insight into yourself and your spiritual value, and let you meet life's challenges with confidence and courage - Would I take it?"
I can choose to be happy and realize that life is a work in progress with all of it's pitfalls and pain. I do not dwell on those pitfalls to long
because my nature is to seek solutions. Meditation, prayer, Al-Anon (service) and pride in my work.
I choose to be grateful for what I have and not what I don't or never did.
Grateful member right here!!
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"Forgiveness doesn't excuse bad behavior, but does prevent bad behavior from destroying your heart" ~ Unknown
Lyne thank you for this post and I love the title. I jumped on it because I just had to see what the medicine was and yeah there is no quick fix for my problems but there is healing and progress and making a life for myself with the program it took me a long time to get sick. It took him a long time to break me down. Its going to take time for the program to reconstruct me.
Good Morning Lyne. Thank you for your service/ESH and thanks for enlightening shares. Actually, magic is poisonous for me. I have prolonged and avoided my problems by living in a wishful state. I embrace Al-Anon because it is a way of life for me! I felt I had no useful purpose and everything I had tried to solve my problems was short-lived and not satisfying. The magic of the 12 steps is that I partipate in life, look at problems as opportunities for growth, gives me strength and courage to use other resources, and I am enjoying peace in the process. Sounds strange but I don't want an instant fix...anymore...thank you HP and MIP and new/old friends.
Grateful for your service Lyne, and to all of those who have posted!
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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
Daffodils, thank you for your wonderful words. Was just thinking before I saw your post that, as great as the Promises are, many of them haven't happened for me yet. I am not serene most of the time. I am not sure that serenity is an appropriate goal for me -- maybe just intermittent serenity LOL. We are all so different. Like you, I have long engaged in "magical thinking" and in avoidance. So I need to get real. And, as well as being reactive to alcoholism in my loved one, I am anxious about other things...anxiety that results from a lot of trauma in my upbringing. Recent years have taught me that almost nothing I do or don't do will make this go away...But that I can learn to live with it much more compassionately and constructively. And with loving detachment.
At bottom, I guess this is what the Promises are saying, too. Thanks again to all for your experience, strength, and hope.
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"The truth will set you free, but it [might] make you miserable first."
Al.anon most certainly has been very helpful to me. Nevertheless I have had to embrace many other strategies to move forward in my life
I am an avid consumer of classes podcasts and every other reference point I can find .
When it first became clear I had post traumatic stress disorder I was working in a hospital where post traumatic stress disorder was identified as a syndrome. I have spent decades working on my way through finding some relief from that disorder. I very much welcome new strategies to resolve that disorder. Al anon most certainly could never address those symptoms. I have had to seek professional help for them
I am extremely eager to resolve many of my symptoms of codependency. In particular my compulsion to #fawn# . What ok nice felt appropriate now feels extremely uncomfortable
Maresie
-- Edited by Maresie888 on Tuesday 29th of June 2021 07:15:01 AM
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Lyne... 
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