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.
We had an Alanon speaker last week at a round-up. He read the "Alanon Promises". I thought that he was reading from "Survival to Recovery". Does anyone know where the "Alanon Promises" are?
Look at the closing statement to the face to face meetings and see if what is said are the promises that you heard. "We have come to realize that...."
There is another promise that changed my life in that closing statement and became the first promise realized for me. "If you keep and open mind you will find help." That was what took away any walls I had erected between me and Al-Anon recovery. It was true then. It is still so very true today. As I listened to the recovering stories of the others I have met along the way without any opposition and use faith to believe that I could have it too. I was awarded the growth in recovery I needed.
Yes, it is in "From Survival to Recovery"..pages 269-270...starting with the second paragraph on 269 "If we willingly surrender ourselves to the spiritual discipiline of the Twelve Steps............"
Yrs ago when my friends and I spoke at International as a thank you gift we got the promises on a book mark , When i called WSO to order some for my friends we were told they are not printing them anymore and that officially Al-Anon does not have promises . they also told us tht if they were to do a reprint on from Survival to Recovery those would not be there . apparently alot of people objected to them because they said they never achieved them . duh enough to not ever have the book mark done again anyway. I asked what had to be done for al anon to accept them as promises , i would have to contact all groups world wide and then if the majority agreed they would be accepted officially . WEll needless to say that was just to much of a job for me so i didn't pursue it. I love them too and guarded that book mark for 10 yrs even had it plactized and kept it in my purse for those bad days , remined me of why i stayed . I always close a talk with those promises and at a convention 4 yrs ago a woman in tears told me they were the most beautiful things she had ever heard , so i gave it to her , told her to pass it on when she was done with it . I love em . Louise
I was unaware of any other promises than the promises my sponsor refers to from the Big Book. Although I am not a "double-winner," I find these very encouraging as I work the program...
"If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.
ARE THESE EXTRAVAGANT PROMISES? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them."
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The prayer isn't for Higher Power to change our lives, but rather to change us.
"If we willingly surrender ourselves to the spiritual discipline of The Twelve Steps and work the program, our lives will be transformed. Members work the program by being willing to attend meetings on a regular basis, reading Al-Anon/Alateen literature, getting a sponsor, working toward applying the 12 Steps of recovery to their lives and by becoming involved in Al-Anon Service work as they begin to recover.
1. We will become mature, responsible individuals with a great capacity for joy, fulfillment, and wonder. Though we may never be perfect, continued spiritual progress will reveal to us our enormous potential.
2. We will discover that we are both, worthy of love and loving. We will love others without losing ourselves, and will learn to accept love in return.
3. Our sight, once clouded and confused, will clear and we will be able to perceive reality and recognize truth
4. Courage and fellowship will replace fear. We will be able to risk failure to develop new hidden talents.
5. Our lives, no matter how battered and degraded, will yield hope to share with others.
6. We will begin to feel and will come to know the vastness of our emotions, but will not be slaves to them.
7. Our secrets will no longer bind us in shame.
8. As we gain the ability to forgive our families, the world, and ourselves our choices will expand.
9. With dignity we will stand for ourselves, but not against our fellows.
10. Serenity and peace will have meaning for us, as we allow our lives and the lives of those we love to flow day by day with Gods ease, balance, and grace.
11. No longer terrified, we will discover we are free to delight in lifes paradox, mystery, and awe.
12. We will laugh more.
13. Fear will be replaced by faith, and gratitude will come naturally as we realize that our Higher Power is doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Can we really grow to such proportions? Only if we accept life as a continuing process of maturation and evolution toward wholeness. Then we suddenly begin to notice these gifts appearing. We see them in those who walk beside us. Sometimes slowly or haltingly, occasionally in great bursts of brilliance, those who work The Steps change and grow toward light, toward health, and toward their Higher Power. Watching others, we realize this is also possible for us.
Will we ever arrive? Feel joyful all the time? Have no cruelty, tragedy, or injustice to face? Probably not, but we will acquire growing acceptance of our human fallibility, as well as greater love and tolerance for each other. Self-pity, resentment, martyrdom, rage, and depression will fade into memory. Community rather than loneliness will define our lives. We will know that we belong, we are welcome, we have something to contribute, and that is enough."
From the AFG book From Survival to Recovery
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Everything I have ever let go of has claw marks all over it.
Somewhere at an 'alanon adult childrens' group meeting, I heard and;or, read something with regard to moving from "being reactive to acting"......can anyone expound on this and is there any expository info available ONLINE with regard to same. Thank you
I use the Big Book as an additional tool to my recovery too (even though I am not a member of AA) and attend open AA meetings as well as my home group. I also found it very helpful as I did Step 4. I believe the promises of the BB are available to all who work the steps in any of our sister programs.
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IF you can not be a good example; then you will just have to be a horrible warning
