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'm new here so I haven't had the chance to navigate the website much quite yet, but I'll get there. :) While I have never been an active member of Al-Anon, I could have probably began using it since the day I was born. My mother and father are alcoholics/prior drug addicts, and my stepdad is a recovering alcoholic. My brother and sister are both drug users and alcoholics, and my sister is leaving a detox clinic today with the hopes of changing her life. My father in law is a 12 year recovered alcoholic, and my husband is an alcoholic... although now he know it's the alcohol or his family so he doesn't drink.
Everywhere I go there is abuse, and it just drags me down. Sometimes I just wish I could relax to a glass of wine with dinner, but I don't so I don't risk tempting my husband. Sometimes I just want to call mom and have a normal adult/mother conversation about life, but I can't have that. One day I just want to wake up and not have to worry about someones life in the back of my mind. I want to know when I need advice, I can count on family, and not solely on my friends. There is so much that has affected my life because of the addictions round me.
I'm glad I found this site, until I can get around to finding an Al Anon meeting locally. Thanks for listening to my vent.
Aloha Mrs B. If you knew how old distilled alcohol is it would help you understand why there are so many addicted people in life and in yours. It's good to have wishes and dreams and better to have that in balance with reality. That is the reason I continue to attend Al-Anon. I was born into the disease also. I know it better than anything else and that has helped me to accept my life and the people in it. I can't fix any of them and never was suppose to.
Thank you for the welcome. While I know that alcoholics don't plan the road they are going down, and most of the time don't think beyond themselves and see who they are hurting, I really want the occasion that have a childish tantrum and scream "It's not fair!!!!!".
I'm either the "goody two shoes that has such a perfect life" (brother and sister) The person giving out the same advice over and over to the same person and situation (mother) Or the person being responsible for making sure my kids aren't exposed to all the madness (husband)
I'm extremely nervous today with my sister leaving detox. She's going back to live at home with my step dad (her dad) and her plans and actions will really define how serious she is. She has beautiful, perfect almost 2 year old daughter that lives with her dad (sisters ex/bf) and she is court ordered for only supervised visitation with full custody being awarded to the dad pretty soon. She is 24 and has no plans in life, no job and no drivers license. She is going into a household where those around her have been the worst forms of co-dependent, and where my brother (her party buddy) resides part time. I just don't know how to approach her and the situation or if I even should. I was her main source of "savior" since she got pregnant with my niece over 2 years ago. A few weeks ago I cut off all contact until she was ready to get help. Now I just don't know where to go from here.
Welcome, I'm glad you are here. You not only have been effected by the disease of alcoholism, you were born in the disease. From reading your post it is beyond me how you have been able to maintain your sanity while living in this disease your entire life.
You need and deserve recovery. In the rooms of Al-Anon is where that recovery can be found. Members there will not judge you, have walked in your shoes, will welcome you with open arm, and understand you as perhaps no one else can. Most important, you won't be alone anymore. We are all different, but all the same. We have all been effected by someone else's drinking.
Find a meeting in your area and make the program an everyday part of your life. Free literature will be available, and books at reasonable costs. Stay after the meeting and talk to other members, we call that the meeting after the meeting. The program works and it can change your life for the better, one day at a time.
Keep coming back and posting, and read prior post on this site. Once again. Your not alone anymore.
hello and welcome ,please make an effort to find meetings for yourself , you need support and people who understand exactly how you feel .. make new friends and get your life back on track . u will learn to take care of yourself in a healthy way and the good news is you dont have to do this alone .once settled in our program your never alone again unless of course you choose to be.
I just thought I would *bump* this to the top, to let you all know how AMAZING Al-Anon has been to me! It's been 2 months, and while I still have a rough road ahead of me, I am in a much better place than the day I first stepped into a meeting. There are still problems of the addicts in my life that circulate daily... but "Let Go and Let God" has really been a good thing to me. Thank you for giving me a place to vent before I made it to my first meeting. :)
