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 am about to embark on one of my goals, namely getting some of the dental treatment I need. I start next week. I realize I don't really know how to manage several small goals at once. I get lost in the shoulda coulda woulda's.
I'm trying to work on summer goals and what I come up with is ridiculous or I get downhearted that I don't make more progress.
I am so glad you have the dental work scheduled to begin next week. Just showing up each week for your appointments will be a way of managing this goal to completion. Everything I try to accomplish takes many baby steps. I outline on paper each small step that is required to complete the goal. Then each day I review the list and see which step I can acccomplish that day. At the end of the day I look at my list and cross off what I have done. If I have not completed anything on the list- I DO NOt Beat MY SELF up- I simply talk to my sponser about it and let it go.
This has worked for me with many huge tasks that I have had to undertake these last few years.
What an accomplishment! I have been needing to schedule a 'cleaning' for at least the last year now and can't bring myself to do that. You go girl! Sincerely,
PS I may accomplish making a cleaning appointment this week.
I get overwhelmed too. How about turning this over to HP? You know - make it part of the step 11 conscious contact - "HP - please give me clarity about what goal YOU would like me to focus on." Maybe HP thinks the dental goal is enough for now. That ok. Just keep asking for the clarity, and talking to safe (program) people, and - this is the hard part! - as it says in one of the readers, c2c I think, trust that when the time is right, the clarity will be there. (Rest assured this is in the category of things I talk about better than I do... but I'm working on it. Several years ago, before alanon, I actually remember praying to be led to where HP wanted me. What do you know - I ended up in alanon. Sometimes the answers are so much less dramatic than I anticipate - and yet they're footwork that has to be done for whatever the next undramatic step is. And yet at the end of a whole bunch of undramatic steps - the whole journey IS dramatic.)
I just had my teeth cleaned this week too. It's such a pain, but at the same time the teeth feel so good when they're clean. I'm trying to use a waterpik, the small rechargeable one - my teeth are really tight together and I end up just not flossing because it's so hard, so this is an alternative. Last year I finally got the last of the mercury-compound fillings replaced. No more mercury in MY mouth! It may not make any medical difference at all - there are lots of different opinions out there - but it makes me feel good that I decided I wanted to be rid of the mercury, and now I am.
Thanks for the support. Getting to the dentist is huge for me. I've started an exercise program. I need to lose 50 lbs. Last year I lost 15 but the 50 seems insurmountable. One pound at a time, one day at a time.
Next week I start the dental work. I'm going to shoot for Tuesday. Wish me luck. I should have an idea of what I am looking at in terms of time and commitment then.
