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.
In today's reading, the author shares the most important words many hear when they first come to Al-Anon: "Take what you like, and leave the rest."
Everything about our program is suggested, not required. We are free to try things, do things in our own time, change our mind, find things that work for us, and ignore the things that don't fit. In this way, we are free to come to our own understandings in our own time, and whatever we take with us will have meaning for us.
Today's Reminder: Because I am able to use whatever I find helpful and leave the rest, I can benefit from the experience, strength, and hope of others and still follow my own heart.
Today's Hope: "With the help of this program and my Higher Power, I take charge of fashioning, shaping, choosing what kind of life I will have." ...In All Our Affairs
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One of the things I like most about Al-Anon is that it is set up for flexibility. When I first came to the program, I had developed a very ridged mindset, and I thought there was only one way to do things and meet success. The standard I set for myself was impossibly high, and I really felt that it was my fault that things weren't working out in my life. With the program, I began to see that flexibility in thinking is a positive thing, that there are many paths I could follow, and that it was ok to do what was best for me, even if it wasn't best for others and they were doing something else. I really do have the ability to make choices that work best for me, and whether they also work well for others doesn't have to matter. I am deciding what my life will look like, and I am welcome to change my mind and consider new ideas and approaches whenever I am ready.
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Skorpi
If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present. - Lao Tzu
Thanks Skorpi for your service and for all above ESH. I was a very rigid person from growing up in a very dysfunctional FOO. I needed lists to try and control things and couldn't be spontaneous at all. It's taken years to overcome this and program has been instrumental in changing those maladaptive coping mechanisms. Take what you like and leave the rest fits me very well now. I like choices, freedom to be me, and I don't have to spend my time pleasing others. It's wonderful. Thanks alanon.
