Did it (first meeting)
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern New Jersey
Posts: 74
Did it (first meeting)
I went, I pretty much just observed, but everyone was very nice....go the welcome pack of pamphlets and one gentleman gave me a copy of the Serenity Prayer on a wallet card
It was different than expected, but in a good way.
One question....I see a lot of the literature that is available - what do you all think os the best starting point? I an unemployed and pretty much broke, so I need to spend my few spare pennies very wisely. Thoughts?
It was different than expected, but in a good way.
One question....I see a lot of the literature that is available - what do you all think os the best starting point? I an unemployed and pretty much broke, so I need to spend my few spare pennies very wisely. Thoughts?
Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Western WA
Posts: 132
Good for you! The first one is always the hardest.......not knowing what to expect and all. I don't have a lot of info for you re: the literature, as I'm only about 3 months into it myself. I was given a copy of "How Al-Anon Works" so I have made that my first one to tackle. Also, there's an awesome book called "codependant no more" by melody beattie (?sp) that I bought even before I started Al-Anon. It's not an al-anon book, but it was recommended to me here on SR and really helped me figure out what I was dealing with in myself. I think it helped "set the stage" for me starting in the alanon program.
So..............what did you think of your first meeting? Will you go back to the same meeting or are you going to check out a different one? They all have their own flavor......due to different folks being involved.........but are all the same format, from my experience.
So..............what did you think of your first meeting? Will you go back to the same meeting or are you going to check out a different one? They all have their own flavor......due to different folks being involved.........but are all the same format, from my experience.
Lost
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Gilbert, AZ
Posts: 14
Congrats on attending your first meeting. I attended my first recently and found that it was really refreshing. I can't explain it but it was a good feeling. I am glad you had good results in your first meeting. I am not sure that I liked my first meeting, but I am going to give it another chance and try some of the others until I find the one that feels like home. Either way I think a meeting is better than no meeting at all. Good luck on your journey!
Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 1,636
Co-dependent No More is a great book -- and I do also highly recommend it -- but it is not an Al Anon book, and I doubt that you will find it for sale at any Al Anon meeting. (If you do, it probably means the group is either totally unaware of or totally disresepctful of Al Anon's policy of using and promoting only Al Anon literature at Al Anon meetings -- and, in either case, that would be a rather big red-flag for me personally)
As fas as actual Al Anon literature goes -- I'd say starting with one of the daily readers is probably good. I'd recommend either Courage to Change, or Hope for Today (probably moreso Hope for Today if you are dealing with ACA issues.) The original reader, One Day at a Time in Al Anon, is good, but it can be very archaic in a slightly misogynistic way....which, personally, I find sometimes to be off-putting, especially if I'm not in the best of moods to begin with.
Of the bigger books, I'd say How Al Anon Works is a good place to start -- or From Survival to Recovery, again, if you are dealing with ACA issues. Also, the new book, Discovering Choices, is awesome -- and really focuses right in on something that I thing is great -- and very hopeful for newcomers: learning to see choices we didn't know we had.
Glad you got to your first meeting! Keep coming back!
freya
P.S. You can probably get any of these book, used, for a great price if you look around on-line (except maybe for the Discovering Choices).
As fas as actual Al Anon literature goes -- I'd say starting with one of the daily readers is probably good. I'd recommend either Courage to Change, or Hope for Today (probably moreso Hope for Today if you are dealing with ACA issues.) The original reader, One Day at a Time in Al Anon, is good, but it can be very archaic in a slightly misogynistic way....which, personally, I find sometimes to be off-putting, especially if I'm not in the best of moods to begin with.
Of the bigger books, I'd say How Al Anon Works is a good place to start -- or From Survival to Recovery, again, if you are dealing with ACA issues. Also, the new book, Discovering Choices, is awesome -- and really focuses right in on something that I thing is great -- and very hopeful for newcomers: learning to see choices we didn't know we had.
Glad you got to your first meeting! Keep coming back!
freya
P.S. You can probably get any of these book, used, for a great price if you look around on-line (except maybe for the Discovering Choices).
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern New Jersey
Posts: 74
Thanks, I am going to look for the books...I appreciate it.
I did go to the meeting again this week....and as much as I enjoyed & benefited week one and found it to be a very positive experience, I left very down and disappointed after week 2 and found it to be a very negative experience....which makes it harder to want to go back
I did go to the meeting again this week....and as much as I enjoyed & benefited week one and found it to be a very positive experience, I left very down and disappointed after week 2 and found it to be a very negative experience....which makes it harder to want to go back
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