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.
I have been thinking about volunteering to be a speaker at my ftf meeting. I am not very good at putting into words what I want to say. Is it ok if I use some sharing from the posts on this board or is that against the rules?
The stories we share are our own, but are usually nothing new to the rest of us. Most of what we share is not original ideas. It is just our experience with this age old problem and slogans and such from our readings. Of course you can share with you meetings. I don't think this would be a problem as long as anonymity is protected. That's pretty easy with stuff from here. I sometimes copy and print shares from here to take to my meetings. I have mentioned it before and never had a negative response.
Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong about this.
In recovery,
__________________
~Jen~
"When you come to the edge of all you know you must believe in one of two things... there will be earth on which to stand or you will be given wings." ~Unknown
for me when I have wanted to share something that someone else has said.. I would prefix it with "I have heard said".... or "a friend of mine shared that".. that way no reference to where or who said it...
I agree with Nightwatcher's post.... try to keep it generic to what you have heard. Also, you will most likely find that your own experiences and knowledge will come shining through, as you become more comfortable sharing.
Tom
__________________
"He is either gonna drink, or he won't.... what are YOU gonna do?"
"What you think of me is none of my business"
"If you knew the answer to what you are worrying about, would it REALLY change anything?"
I agree, over the years I have often shared what I learned here at f2f. I never said where it came from, just another Alanon friend. Most of our situations are not unique, we are all living with the same disease. Love Jeannie
Twice I've used shares from this board to jump start a discussion meeting with my home group. I just PM the person and asked them if they minded if I did this -- which neither did. The meetings went great and each time I came away with a WOW feeling
If you were to actually print something out and read it, there might a problem with it not being CAL. But certainly saying something like "An alanon friend said " woudl be fine"
A couple of suggestions: I think most of us who have been around a while will repeat something heard at a meeting, not necessarily verbatim but just a thought or observation. That's a very important part of sharing the message. I've certainly heard in AA meetings "As Texas Tom used to say...." attributing to someone specific. But these usually end up being slogans, not personal stories.
The other thing is - being asked to speak at a meeting, I assume that they want to hear MY ES&H, not someone else's. That experience can certainly include things learned from others, but - this is just my take on it - if I'm listening to a speaker, I don't want to hear them read someone else's words verbatim.
We do occasionally read some of the literature aloud at a meeting, but this is generally just a paragraph or two and is to exemplify or stimulate discussion.
If you do end up speaking, you might be surprised at how much you have to offer in your own words.
