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 would like to say thank for the comfort and encouragement I have received since I started to post on the site. Especially this week.
After my first deep share last week on my deepest feelings of resentment I managed to use the al-anon tools to the best of my ability to let of the hurt/expectation I was actually choking myself with by expecting other people to change.
I gained an amazing insight from my literature which I read every day. I missed one day of my reading and my thoughts went into a negative spiral. It just goes to show that it does work when I use it and apply it. These little miracles keep happening as the very reading I missed once read was exactly what I needed to hear.
A few quotes from Courage to change (pg114) April23 that brought it all to light for me.
As I recover, I began to feel and it was very confusing. For a while I thought I might be getting sicker than ever because the feelings were so uncomfortable, but my al-anon friends assured me that this was part of my process. I was ready to experience feelings , and the discomfort did pass. Slowly I became more whole.
The part I have bolded is most importantly confirming the re-asssurance that you guys gave me on this board. Thank you so much.
I am feeling much better now and managed to share with my al-anon friends at my weekly face 2 face meeting. My higher power is such an amazing attribute as at my meeting the topic was negative thinking which was not even the original plan due to last minute change. Now there's another little miracle due to circumstances.
Keep trucking with the al-anon programme it's well worth the effort.
Hugs* Chezza
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Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose.
Just talked about this at length in my al-anon women's 4th step group (not an al-anon meeting but a step study). How we work so hard to avoid feeling things- run all kinds of interference and distort and contort into all kinds of new fangled shapes to deny our basic feelings like anger and sadness- perfectly normal healthy feelings.
SO, we work our program and begin to very simply feel our feelings, not run away from them or deny them or act our and react to them, etc. Just sit in our sh*t so to speak.
I don't like it believe me! But I have to do it and if I do, it passes much more quickly. It feels worse but its actually just a really NEW feeling and something we are not used to.
I was never allowed to have feelings growing up- only the A in my family could rage, have fun, laugh, etc. we all scurried around trying to avoid her, placate her, get away from her. We were not allowed to have feelings. So, I stuffed 'em. Not any more, thanks to this program. Hugs, J.
I just wanted to share that I too was EXACTLY were you were when I started this board, You will still have tough days, and thats OK... Who Knew? That would be OK? But its true, since I have started Al-anon, On my "Not so pretty days" I remember to pick up that daily reader, and remind myself that "THis too Will Pass"
I Too Love Courage to Change ... Another Good Daily for me was "Hope for Today" and the Language of Letting Go... ALL GOOD ONES... All can carry you thru on your not so good days... And REMEMBER.,.. If you are stuck on something one day and the verse you read isn't the one you need... Go to the back of the book, and look up what you are stuggling with and check that page out as well... Sometimes for me, just goin thru the back index I realize there is more there then I think I need... Since al-anon, I now know that it is OK for me to be mad, and I come here post and get the support and the push I need to keep it going... And you will see you "recover" from your down days alot quicker if you stick to it...
Keep Coming back and Posting... Your Doing Great... One Day At A Time...
