mmmbdl, you wrote "What do I do? HELP!"
Let Go and Let God!
Study of Al-Anon's Twelve Suggested Steps is essential to progress in the Al-Anon program. The principles they embody are universal, applicable to everyone, whatever his personal creed. In Al-Anon, we strive for an ever-deeper understanding of these Steps, and pray for the wisdom to apply them to our lives.
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Who are the members and why are they here?
Members are all kinds of people from all walks of life: wives, husbands, lovers, sisters, brothers, children and parents of alcoholics. No matter what our relationship has been with a problem drinker, we share a common bond: we feel our lives have been deeply affected by another person's drinking. We meet together to share our experience, strength and hope.
How will it help me?
You will probably hear about a situation much like your own. If you don't find someone with the same set of circumstances, you may still be able to identify with the way many of us feel about the effects of alcoholism in our lives. We are all individuals striving to become the best people we can, each in our own way. That way is not the same for each of us, but there is help for everyone whose problem is alcoholism in others.
Now what do I do? We Al-Anon and Alateen members found it helpful to:
FIND A MEETING WORLDWIDE
Welcome to Al-Anon and Alateen
Go to meetings.
Talk to each other before and after meetings.
Exchange telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.
After awhile, you may wish to find a sponsor - an Al-Anon member with whom you can identify, who can guide you in using the program to cope with problems.
Read Al-Anon and Alateen books, pamphlets, and many other useful books
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.
reprinted with permission from Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA
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