Self‑Supporting in All Our Affairs
The Seventh Tradition is about more than financial contributions; it’s a practice of self‑investment, responsibility, and interdependence in all aspects of our daily lives.
July’s member blog invites you to share: “How do you apply the Seventh Tradition in your personal life?”
As always, you can also write about Al‑Anon’s three Legacies. This month features Step Seven, Tradition Seven, and Concept Seven.
Sharings on the Member Blog may be used in future Al‑Anon publications.
New topics are being added each month!
This year in my recovery, the theme is “humility.” I used to think that “being humble” and “being humiliated” were the same thing. Today, through the guidance of my Higher Power and by living the Twelve Steps, Traditions, and Concepts, I have experienced “the wisdom to know the difference.” I love the Seventh Step because of the first word: “humbly.” I practice humility when I remain open and teachable. I need help in this life. I need a Power greater than myself whom I can turn to and ask for help and guidance. I have found that the Seventh Step… Read more »
In my personal life, I have always been financially self-supporting ever since my late teens; however, I have not been emotionally or spiritually self-supporting. One of the “isms” of my “family disease” has been that a part of me felt that my partner’s serenity was my responsibility, and that hers was mine. In Al-Anon, I have learned the skills and techniques by which I can take ownership of my own emotional and spiritual health. This does not mean that I close myself off from or isolate myself from others, but rather that I develop a middle-of-the-road interdependence instead of an… Read more »
“How do you apply the Seventh Tradition in your personal life?”
While the first part of the Tradition focuses on taking care of myself, it is the last part that has challenged me the most: “declining outside contributions.”
Today, I am able to “take what I like and leave the rest” when the people in my life share their helpful suggestions, comments, and advice. I can detach. I can set boundaries. I now make my own choices without trying to please everyone around me.
My husband and I do use the Seventh Tradition in our personal finances. This may not work for everyone, but it certainly works for us. We married when we were 50 years old, and it was not a first marriage for either of us. We knew that one of the biggest challenges for couples is arguing about money because we had both been there, done that, and even had the T-shirts to prove it! We were both financially well-established and really could not see how getting married meant we should have access to each other’s money. We did have mutual… Read more »
When I first chaired an Al-Anon meeting on Tradition Seven, I interpreted self-support mostly as taking responsibility for myself. Over the past year, that understanding has become more robust. Today I see Tradition Seven as an invitation to become a good steward of my recovery. Living with alcoholism taught me to rely on myself. I measured strength by how much I could carry while appearing calm and capable. Recovery has shown me a different way. Self-support isn’t self-sufficiency. It’s taking ownership of the relationships, practices, and commitments that sustain my recovery. For me, that means making time for meetings, staying… Read more »
Tradition 7 was not on my radar for a few 24 hours of my being in the program. I got into service as Group Representative/District Representative (GR/DR) not too long after coming to Al-Anon and this is how I started to see how this Tradition applies to the group. I encouraged the members to contribute. It has always been important for me and even more so after I served as Delegate. I then saw how it is important for the well-being and the survival of our fellowship. However, applying it to my life took a while. When I became an… Read more »
Before I came to Al-Anon, I was constantly looking for reassurance about my thoughts, ideas, and behavior. “What do you think?” I had spiritual beliefs, but I was not connected to a higher power. I did not know myself well, which meant I didn’t know what I was feeling and I certainly did not know what I needed. If my loved ones were spinning out of control, I was too. If they were doing okay, I was worrying and anxious about what would happen next. Today I am more emotionally self supporting. I focus on myself, even when my loved… Read more »
A couple of years ago I experienced the loss of one of my best friends, my daughter and my wife all in the span of less than six months. One of my best friends had a massive heart attack, my daughter succumbed to her diseases of diabetes and alcoholism, and my wife decided she wanted to go live with her girlfriend and get divorced. I eventually learned that I had to apply the principles of the Seventh Tradition to every aspect of my life asap. I had to relearn grocery shopping, doing the laundry and covering all the bills again… Read more »
This Tradition and Warranty 1,having a prudent reserve have helped not only with managing my money but also my most valuable resource, namely my effort and energy. What I can do myself I will, what I can pay for myself I will. I now look with honesty at my resources and make wiser decisions based on my position at the time.
Being entirely self-supporting financially has always been a challenge for me, yet it is a critical part of practicing good self-care. I appreciate that Al-Anon points me toward taking good care of myself in all aspects of my life; spiritually, physically, emotionally and financially.
I was 30 my husband 31 when we got here. I thought we had missed many opportunities, like owning a home. We’d been renting a house for a few years and in recovery for a couple years. The property owner called, said he had cancer, and wanted to know if we wanted to purchase the house. I was working part time in real estate, I was sure we didn’t qualify, I didn’t even check, but I mentioned it to my boss. She checked, we did qualify! It was June, I had been working part time, while our son was… Read more »
I was told I needed to become emotionally self-supporting. I was always looking to others for my emotional support & usually disappointed. First, I had to change the internal dialog with myself from negative & belittling to positive & loving. I practiced living in gratitude instead of always focusing on what I didn’t have. This changed my life in wonderful ways.
THIS is an invaluable sentence that I will contemplate and return to ‘comment’ – thank you Al-Anon Family Groups for helping me learn and understand self-care and practice of the principles in my daily living!
thank you! The Seventh Tradition is about more than financial contributions; it’s a practice of self‑investment, responsibility, and interdependence in all aspects of our daily lives