Carlotta

Life is a package deal. It is not enough to look only at the parts we like. It is necessary to face the whole picture so that we can make realistic choices for ourselves and stop setting ourselves up for disappointment. Living with alcoholics, many of us coped with an ever-shifting situation in which our sense of reality changed from one minute to the next. We adapted by taking whatever part of reality suited us and ignoring the rest. Again and again we were devastated because reality didn’t go away just because it was ignored. Our lives will remain unmanageable as long as we pretend that only half of the truth is real. That’s why sharing is such an important Al-Anon tool. When we share with other members about what is really going on, we cut through our denial and anchor ourselves in reality. While it may be difficult to face certain facts, when we allow ourselves to confront them, we cease to give our own denial the power to devastate us at every turn.

lillamy

Thank you for doing this every day, Carlotta!

This one particularly spoke to me, because I see that ignoring certain parts of reality is an unhealthy coping mechanism I still use, despite no longer being in contact with my qualifier.