Good morning, MIP Family -- That is exactly the topic of today's reading. The author feels lucky to have found a second family where they can speak freely, be accepted as they are, have the dignity to solve their own problems, and are freely given the empathy and love that they deserve just by being themselves. And that is the Al-Anon family.
Today's Reminder: When a loved one's alcoholism brought me to Al-Anon, I found a new, second family, a family that helped me discover the me that had been hidden for so long... Today I will enjoy having a place where I really belong.
Quote: "For me, alcoholism has proven to be a bitter-sweet legacy -- bitter, because of the pain I suffered, and sweet, because if it weren't for that pain, I wouldn't have searched for and found a better way of living." From Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism.
---------------------------------
Well, the daily reader has told my story once again (funny how it does that). I love the honesty of the quote -- it acknowledges the pain, and also the joy that is on the other side of the pain. It is certainly true for me, that one of the most treasured and satisfying parts of my life today -- my Al-Anon program, the people I have met in it, and the opportunity to be useful in service -- came out of a time of suffering. I'm not grateful for the suffering, but I am grateful for the solution -- and all of you here on MIP are part of that solution. Thank you for being here.
-- Edited by Freetime on Friday 11th of January 2019 12:24:58 AM
hotrod said
Jan 11, 2019
Great reading Thanks Freetime I did realize that it is important to look at our lives with an objective view. I can certainly look at alcoholism as a destructive force in my life but then when I admit that I found the support of like minded people in the rooms of alanon, i can truly appreciate the gifts that alcoholism gave to me . So grateful for my RECOVERY Family. Thanks for your service .
DavidG said
Jan 11, 2019
Thanks Freetime. and Hi Hotrod... ... ...
I didn't really have a peer group in my teens- just lost people, like myself...
Family of choice is what I call the people in the rooms. We share so much together. Some of the family saw my going to Alanon as a betrayal of family principals.
But I was betrayed so often by the adults in my world. Ot rather- that were betrayed by the sickness.
Today my loyalty goes both ways- to the healthy portions of my family... ...and to my family of choice too.
I really do see my true family as the co-heirs of Lois and Bill W.
I wish that would include my FOO as well... ...
Iamhere said
Jan 11, 2019
Good morning all - thanks for the shares and ESH. Thank you Freetime for your service and the daily. I also found a family that I claim proudly in recovery. Until I arrived, I really felt a part from most groups including my family of origin.
Today, I have a variety of different interests, which provide me with a few different groups that I truly feel apart of. I can only attribute this to the willingness to seek recovery, working on me and learning to love me and the great family I adopted in recovery.
Recovery gave me the gift to accept my FOO even if/when they are traveling a different path than I. My HP gives me the grace to be of service when possible without judgment. My recovery family has given me humility, lessons, prayer, meditation, etc. - so many things allowing me to just be me, one day at a time!
Happy Friday all....make it a great day!
tiredtonite said
Jan 11, 2019
Thanks freetime for your service and share and hi hotrod, david, iamhere
I especially like the quote too, freetime. I was so swept up in trying to help someone else to the point of not being a person separate from them; a person with wants and needs of their own. In the rooms, I was able to learn the difference between enabling and loving support of the alcoholics in my life. As a parallel, I was able to see I, too needed to consciously make choices that honored my life. The Alanon program if worked one day at a time offers me the opportunity to no longer be a bystander in my own life. I can choose to act rather than be acted upon. Others helped me to find that courage through sharing and witnessing their progress even when outcomes were not always what they would have liked. This gave me hope that I, too could choose full participation and feel a sense of dignity and pride in being willing to make choices to progress spiritually, emotionally and physically. I relate to what it says in Today's Reminder. Alanon really did help me discover the me that had been hidden for so long. I continue to make new discoveries about myself and how my higher power is working in my life. I'm grateful to have been led to this journey and recovery from what was once an unmanageable life. Alanon truly is a program for life. I like the progress I've experienced. It's a gift to share with others and listen/read others and feel understanding. I know I need to keep working it to keep it but it's so worth the effort. ((hugs)) TT
-- Edited by tiredtonite on Friday 11th of January 2019 09:17:54 AM
mamalioness said
Jan 11, 2019
thanks Freetime and Betty....I had no idea was having a real family was till I got into recovery...Coming into the program, I've made some good friends...REAL people, where actions actually match words..Wow!! What a treat that was....as to the FOO?? most of them I can just cut loose with compassion and peace and goodwill....I'm less and less resentful of people who just have nothing in them to bless the world with....I'm moving forward, leaving more and more of them behind, not as a punishment, but as a gift to me , a commitment to take care of me....my FOC (family of choice) I give thanks for ea. day.....speaking of which, I have a lovely friend who "checks in on me" re: my back and I was kinda have a "more pain" day yesterday...I need to call her and give her some gr8ful love over the phone...I PM'd her on FB and told her I am lousey at chatting when my pain is bad, back is kinda in limbo...not moving forward, not backward...I may still have to get a shot...tapping, visualizing isn't working so far....today is another day to try....if it isn't better by monday, I'm gonna get a shot...ANYWAY, BACK to topic!!! I love and appreciate the ones who have been there for me....I want to pay forward their love and kindness to me...that is how I keep loving and ppositive and good energy going.........
I've decided to Love the ones who love me back....be kind to all, but keep a big distance from the toxins who roam around looking for someone to put their darkness on....I can send them on their way w/out being cruel.....As I get older and wiser and more recovered in program, I get more picky whom I allow in my close circles...
Lyne said
Jan 11, 2019
Thanks FT and I have enjoyed all the above shares. This is also my story about gaining a second family, and in this family, everyone is striving for a better life. People understand me, and I feel the caring offered to me when I am struggling. I had no idea this was a part of alanon, but it does make the suffering from A's bitter sweet. I not only have a new, wonderful family, but I have grown in ways I didn't think possible. Thanks family, Lyne
Good morning, MIP Family -- That is exactly the topic of today's reading. The author feels lucky to have found a second family where they can speak freely, be accepted as they are, have the dignity to solve their own problems, and are freely given the empathy and love that they deserve just by being themselves. And that is the Al-Anon family.
Today's Reminder: When a loved one's alcoholism brought me to Al-Anon, I found a new, second family, a family that helped me discover the me that had been hidden for so long... Today I will enjoy having a place where I really belong.
Quote: "For me, alcoholism has proven to be a bitter-sweet legacy -- bitter, because of the pain I suffered, and sweet, because if it weren't for that pain, I wouldn't have searched for and found a better way of living." From Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism.
---------------------------------
Well, the daily reader has told my story once again (funny how it does that). I love the honesty of the quote -- it acknowledges the pain, and also the joy that is on the other side of the pain. It is certainly true for me, that one of the most treasured and satisfying parts of my life today -- my Al-Anon program, the people I have met in it, and the opportunity to be useful in service -- came out of a time of suffering. I'm not grateful for the suffering, but I am grateful for the solution -- and all of you here on MIP are part of that solution. Thank you for being here.
-- Edited by Freetime on Friday 11th of January 2019 12:24:58 AM
Great reading Thanks Freetime I did realize that it is important to look at our lives with an objective view. I can certainly look at alcoholism as a destructive force in my life but then when I admit that I found the support of like minded people in the rooms of alanon, i can truly appreciate the gifts that alcoholism gave to me . So grateful for my RECOVERY Family.
Thanks for your service .
Thanks Freetime. and Hi Hotrod...
... 
...
I didn't really have a peer group in my teens- just lost people, like myself...
Family of choice is what I call the people in the rooms. We share so much together. Some of the family saw my going to Alanon as a betrayal of family principals.
But I was betrayed so often by the adults in my world. Ot rather- that were betrayed by the sickness.
Today my loyalty goes both ways- to the healthy portions of my family... ...and to my family of choice too.
I really do see my true family as the co-heirs of Lois and Bill W.
I wish that would include my FOO as well...
...
Today, I have a variety of different interests, which provide me with a few different groups that I truly feel apart of. I can only attribute this to the willingness to seek recovery, working on me and learning to love me and the great family I adopted in recovery.
Recovery gave me the gift to accept my FOO even if/when they are traveling a different path than I. My HP gives me the grace to be of service when possible without judgment. My recovery family has given me humility, lessons, prayer, meditation, etc. - so many things allowing me to just be me, one day at a time!
Happy Friday all....make it a great day!
Thanks freetime for your service and share and hi hotrod, david, iamhere
I especially like the quote too, freetime. I was so swept up in trying to help someone else to the point of not being a person separate from them; a person with wants and needs of their own. In the rooms, I was able to learn the difference between enabling and loving support of the alcoholics in my life. As a parallel, I was able to see I, too needed to consciously make choices that honored my life. The Alanon program if worked one day at a time offers me the opportunity to no longer be a bystander in my own life. I can choose to act rather than be acted upon. Others helped me to find that courage through sharing and witnessing their progress even when outcomes were not always what they would have liked. This gave me hope that I, too could choose full participation and feel a sense of dignity and pride in being willing to make choices to progress spiritually, emotionally and physically. I relate to what it says in Today's Reminder. Alanon really did help me discover the me that had been hidden for so long. I continue to make new discoveries about myself and how my higher power is working in my life. I'm grateful to have been led to this journey and recovery from what was once an unmanageable life. Alanon truly is a program for life. I like the progress I've experienced. It's a gift to share with others and listen/read others and feel understanding. I know I need to keep working it to keep it but it's so worth the effort. ((hugs)) TT
-- Edited by tiredtonite on Friday 11th of January 2019 09:17:54 AM
I've decided to Love the ones who love me back....be kind to all, but keep a big distance from the toxins who roam around looking for someone to put their darkness on....I can send them on their way w/out being cruel.....As I get older and wiser and more recovered in program, I get more picky whom I allow in my close circles...