What aspects of your recovery are you grateful for?
Please share your experiences by commenting on the topic below. The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you liked and leave the rest. Member sharing on the Member Blog may be used in future Al‑Anon publications.
This month we’re asking you to share on the question, “What aspects of your recovery are you grateful for?”
Gratitude for the Serene life, for not feeling guilty about self care, staying in my own lane, having boundaries and practising it is priceless.
What am I grateful for in recovery? Wow So much. I’m grateful that I have learned to focus on myself, that I’ve learned to be of service to others without having an ulterior motive. I’m grateful for the laughter, the love and the healing that have all come from attending meetings, working the steps and having a sponsor. I could go on and on, but mostly I am grateful that today I am mostly peaceful and serene and I love my life.
I am grateful to Al-Anon for the hard learned ability to stay in my own lane and allow others in my life the dignity to succeed or fail without my interference. My relationships are stronger and healthier now because of me being in recovery from my own codependency.
I am so grateful for my recovery and grateful that I found it when I did. I was young and in trouble. I remember how I felt after my first few meetings. I felt I could finally breathe. I could finally relax. I understood nothing about the steps, but Steps 2 and 11 leapt off the hanging poster for me. I had no idea how deep I would go, but I finally allowed some sense of calm to come over me.
There are many aspects about my recovery I am grateful for. Like so many others in this program, I came to Al-Anon broken. My spirit was broken, my mind was broken, my heart was broken and I just couldn’t see any purpose in my life. I was tired mentally and just tired of struggling to survive. I truly cannot explain why I came to Al-Anon when I hit my bottom. I had “tried” it before and couldn’t see how the program could possibly help me. I was convinced the problem was not with me. It couldn’t be. I wasn’t the… Read more »
I’m grateful for so much, I feel like I could fill a book. It seems like different gifts of the program present themselves just when I need to be aware of them. The first thing that comes to mind today is gratitude for the ability to recognize someone else’s drama, partnered with the ability to choose whether or not I get involved in it. I’m not very skilled at staying out of other people’s drama gracefully, but I have faith grace will come with time and practice. Next is detachment. I used to be constantly on the defensive and took… Read more »
When I first joined Al-Anon I would hear people say they are “grateful” members of Al-Anon. I definitely couldn’t relate to that. It took a few years before but I have become one of those people. I am grateful for the alcoholic for one thing for getting me into these rooms. Never thought I would say that! Because of getting here, I have found a way of life I never would have otherwise. The most important aspect of my recovery, without a doubt, is the trust and faith I have found. I don’t have to stay awake at night wondering… Read more »
I don’t even know where to begin. I celebrated my 40th Al-Anon anniversary this month, I am extremely grateful that I stayed. I’m grateful for my first sponsor who helped me work the steps, taught me about unconditional love and got me started in service. I’m grateful for all the service opportunities that I have had that taught me to get out of myself and be there for someone else. Service saved me so many times. Today I’m grateful to continue in service, for all the electronic meetings that now have me going to more meetings each month than ever… Read more »
I joined Al-Anon about 3 years ago and am grateful for the principles that I learned. I now go out to work Step 12 but would not be able to do it without learning to listen, keep the privacy of individuals, and to tell only my story. I feel this makes communication with homeless, addicts, and even ‘normal’ people so much easier. Then of course am very grateful for learning not only about boundaries but how to use them. This has enabled me to try [no one is perfect] not to have expectations and when to walk away or “Let… Read more »
I am grateful for many aspects in my recovery, first is the gratitude tool which has changed my life, my thought process, my perspective to view every person around me, different tools to tackle myself, moreover I found a higher power accompanying me all the time like a soothing blanket and protective shield like Earth atmosphere. A loving, caring and compassionate, supportive God, always there for me. Grateful for showing me to appreciate the wonders of life. Grateful for giving such supportive Al-Anon friends who listen to me and accepts me as I am and taught me acceptance by live… Read more »
I was the type of person to rush everything in my life, wanting it to be done correctly, but fast. Now, it’s a little different almost a year later. What I’m most grateful for is the gentleness this program offers. I love that I don’t have Al-Anon members hovering over me, criticizing my every move. I am human and I am not perfect. The slogan “Easy Does It” is one that I remind myself of a lot these days. By not rushing to make something happen, I allow myself to take a pause and ask my Higher Power for the… Read more »
I have been in Al-Anon for 5 months now and I am so grateful to begin the process of shedding my shame of the secret life I had been leading until I found the program. I am grateful for my home group where I have finally found a safe place to be heard and seen for exactly who I am, flaws and all. I am beyond grateful to have found joy again and to begin to get excited about my dreams and what the future holds for Stephanie as I am detaching with love.
The knowledge that I have a disease; I have been affected by alcoholism from the time I was born. This releases a burden caused by past behaviors. I didn’t know any better. I did the best I could. Al-Anon has helped me grow up, become a responsible caring adult.
Now I have tools, slogans, steps, a community. I have learned a better way to interact with people, to respond lovingly instead of reacting with fear and defiance. Al-Anon has given me peace and genuine relationships. Thank you.
Mary Lou, a friend I met in the program, was generous and loving with her service and her caring. She was very humble, sometimes painfully so, not seeing how her simple shares were meaning so much to me and to others. The magical hope and encouragement, that comes from seeing others embrace the program and find God’s will in their lives, was spoken in her shy shares. She passed away two years ago and a loving group of fellows attended her memorial. One friend came up to me and said, “I’m going to miss Mary Lou. We texted each other… Read more »
I am grateful for all that Al-Anon has given me over the years, through its Three Legacies and its many tools. What I am the most grateful for is the person I have become and that I am today. When I first came to the program I didn’t like what I had become through various experiences I went through caused by close contacts with alcoholics. I set a goal after being in the program for a while: To become the best person I can be, the best person I deserve to be and the person my Higher Power wants and… Read more »
I could never list all the parts of my recovery for which I am grateful – all of it really! I am grateful that attending meetings allowed me to change from quite a negative person to one who can substitute positive thoughts and actions. I seem to become more and more grateful for those members whom I found at my first meetings, some of whom I am still seeing in meetings. Their examples of recovery, trustworthiness, thorough knowledge of the program, and willingness to share what worked for them, including their Higher Power, and time to listen to me set… Read more »
The most awesome gift I received from Al-Anon is the ability to let go and let God
I could work on just me….go shopping for me, go to meetings.
I was not responsible for changing anyone or any problem solving.
I was to change only me
I am grateful for a worldwide community whose primary purpose is recovery. No matter what time it is, where I am, or how I’m feeling, Al-Anon is a phone call, click, or walk-in meeting away! As I head into the holiday season, I know alcohol is going to be at every gathering of family and friends. And that used to be a huge source of stress for me prior to the event. I’ve now learned to detach from the negative and focus on (and be grateful for) the positive. I am lucky to have family that loves me. I am… Read more »
Where do I begin? There are so many tools I have learned in Al-Anon and so many people I have met. If I were to try and sum it all up I guess I would say I am grateful for the ability to just be me. Some days I go to meetings and I am full of the spirituality of the program. Other days I am really low and wondering why I work so hard on my recovery. Al-Anon has shown me unconditional love and I can show up on my good days and my not so good days. I… Read more »
I am grateful for so many things but one of the biggest is the peace and serenity I feel in my life now. Before recovery I was always in turmoil; my mind would never rest. I lost so much time reliving the past, analyzing my decisions (and never being comfortable that I made a good one), and worrying about the future. I truly felt sometimes that I was going crazy. Today I give my worries to God, I let him help me with decisions and trust the ones I make. I pray for acceptance of his will in my life… Read more »