Originally Posted by
breakingglass 
i can't help but think that these meetings, etc are making you people turn on your own relatives! a phone call from your mom just because she had a bad dream and it upset her does not mean she is insane for god sakes! it happens to eveyrone... i am beginning to think these meetings are designed to make you put down eveyrone in your life just to make yourself feel better. i'm not getting is i suppose.
Wow, Breakingglass... this post hits me so hard this morning!! I was driving to work and thinking about how I have changed and evolved since starting my recovery. My initial reaction to recovery was EXACTLY what you described! I shut down BIG time. I was so hurt and raw, and AWARE of the dysfunction around me that the only solution I could see was to eliminate those people I felt most vulnerable around - which was essentially my whole family, and AH's!!! And, well, if I'm being honest, alot of my neighbors, and friends... and co-workers. There was no one but my Al-anon buddies that I could talk to!
With my heightened awareness, I could spot the effects of alcoholism in just about every person around me!! HOW FREAKIN' SICK and SCARY!!!!
What I am learning today is that those these people may have behaviors/behaviors/whatever that I don't agree with or like, but as my recovery grows, I am able to detach from their "stuff" and interact with them in a manner that respects us both. I'm learning that I
can have a relationship with my mother - it just can't/won't ever be that fairytale mother/daughter relationship that I see in the movies!
Thanks for letting me share,
Shannon