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 didn't cause alcoholism, I can't control it. I can't cure it. I can continue to struggle and lose. Or I can accept that I am powerless over alcohol and alcoholism, and let Al-anon help me to redirect the energy I've spent on fighting this disease into recovering from its effects." p. 74, Courage to Change
"I like the message of the three C's. "I didn't cause it" relieves me of any lingering guilt I may feel: .....
"I can't control it" gives me permission to live my life and to take care of myself....Nothing I say or do, don't say or don't do, will have any effect on the alcoholic's choice to drink. That choice is completely out of my hands.
"I can't cure it, reminds me that I don't have to repeat my insane behavior over and over again, hoping for different results. I don't have to keep giving one last exhausted effort to stop the drinking, hoping that "this time it will work". I don't have to search for the magic cure that isn't there. Instead I can use my energy for my recovery. p.7 Hope for Today
I just want to add that in the Alateen group that I attended when I was younger added another C- You didn't cause, you can't cure it, you can't control it but you can COPE with it.
Learning that alcoholism is a disease helped me to understand the three C's better and let go of enabling the A's in my life. I have learned to give everyone -- including the A's - the dignity of their own decisions.
Keep coming back.
Much love and hugs, Jessi
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If you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done.
