Have you experienced difficulty “letting go” of a service position?
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, “Have you experienced difficulty ‘letting go’ of a service position?”
In my metro area, people are simply not standing for positions such as GR and Service Center Representative, especially post Covid. 18 years ago, I agreed to become GR for a group that had not had representation in some time. There were 7 of us in the meeting. In my 3rd week at this meeting, our long time treasurer handed me the roup donations and said she wouldn’t o longer be attending the meeting. Two weeks later, 3 other members stop attending. we were down to 3 attendees. I was assured it had nothing to do with me. One year… Read more »
Another Al-Anon member once told me something that I greatly value. This person had an extensive background in Al-Anon service, but due to health issues is no longer actively participating in that fashion. The comment came in two parts. First, that it seemed like I was really involved in service, to an unusual degree. Second, that I didn’t have an attitude about it, which might be just as unusual. Recently, while I am still just as involved in service, I have realized that I do seem to be developing an attitude about it. This is my hint that it is… Read more »
Oh, yes, I had struggled to let go of a service position because no one else was stepping up; so I’d say “I’ll do it one more week” or “I’ll do another month” until one day I opened the meeting and no one showed up who had service positions. I opened, set up, was secretary, treasurer, literature person and got the speaker last minute for the meeting – after the meeting I was in tears and the woman I asked to speak reminded me that I was not the meetings higher power, and if I kept doing what I was… Read more »
Yes I am having a struggle with leaving a service position. I am the editor of our local, quarterly AIS newsletter. I feel as though in today’s digital age that a blog is more relevant than a newsletter. I want to stop editing the newsletter but I have one more year in a 3 year commitment.
I was very willing to step back from the position of Group Representative for a local meeting & let others have the opportunity to serve. I found myself doing for the group what the group needed to do for itself. I felt that I was, at times, forcing solutions, & even periodically a bit of a distraction. I left the group records orderly, & have been available for assistance as needed. In my attempt to keep the light on, I may have held the group back. I still attend from time to time, & am glad to see that the… Read more »
My biggest problem with letting go of a service position is my fear that no one will pick it up and carry on. With the limits we have now with so many groups not meeting face to face, it’s even harder to find volunteers. I have been involved in service for many years now and I know all that’s needed is a “gentle nudge” from some of our seasoned members to give the newer member the desire to serve. The problem I am noticing is now we don’t get in the car and drive to District or Assembly meetings because… Read more »
Yes at the very beginning of the end of the position. But there were times that the position created stress that I would find overwhelming. When I remember those stressful times; I am glad to let go. I still mentor my successor, but I share what I would do with choices that they could do and let them know it is their position. Sometimes that final reminder, it is their position, is more for me and not them. From a former Literature Coordinator, Group Records Coordinator and soon to be former AAPP.
I certainly have experienced difficulty in “letting go ” of a service position. When I attended my first meeting, at what became my homegroup, the Group Representative welcomed me with open arms. She became my service sponsor as she nudged me along into the various service opportunities. She got me started with sharing at meetings and helping set up. After attending regularly for a few months, she encouraged me to chair a meeting. As time went on I realized that she had been GR for many years and delighted in being the matriarch of the group and other longstanding service… Read more »
I have had difficulty letting go of service positions in Al-Anon and am now wondering if that’s why I have not volunteered here lately. There was a group I started to attend regularly that was closer to my home, but the attendance had dwindled to just 2 of us. We just “kept coming back” and each week we setup as if a crowd were going to come bustling through the door. Slowly but surely or “little by little” attendance grew and we even had to change locations. The group grew and my grip on it grew tighter. I had taken… Read more »
I have served at various levels of service and I have always enjoyed, learned and grew with each experience. I have not had difficulties letting go of the position itself, as I had prepared myself for the fact that when it was over, it was over and I had to let go. I strongly believe in rotation of leadership and I respect it greatly, so this also helped me to let go. I was always there for the person coming after me to help and share my experience. However, where I had a hard time to let go was when… Read more »
When I was very new to the program and had settled into a home meeting, volunteers were requested for setting up the chairs in the meeting room and I offered to do it. Mind you, I was very new and felt honored to be accepted to do it. I got to the meeting early every week and became upset when others had already started the set up and when no one pointed out that it was my responsibility. I had so much to learn!! I wanted to talk to the person “in charge” to say look, either I’m assigned this… Read more »
Week after week our chairperson for that night’s meeting would announce that our Group Representative position was going unfilled. My husband and I had recently moved to the area, and even though I felt welcomed in my Al-Anon meeting, I wasn’t ready to volunteer. But I had been a G.R. in the past, for a very small group in a remote region of the state. My only duties had been to attend District meetings which I looked forward to because of the camaraderie and how Al-Anon principles were also used for those meetings. Fast forward ten years, and I am… Read more »
Having served at the Area level for many years I am now stepping down from my current service position. I am grateful for all the members who are stepping forward to serve. My responsibility is to encourage and pass on my experience, strength, and hope. I am graciously letting go of my service position and moving to the back seat of the bus in order to allow someone else take the wheel. Rotation of service is similar to the passing on of the Olympic Torch. The Olympic Torch symbolizes the light of spirit, knowledge and life. By passing the flame from one person to another… Read more »
The hardest time I’ve had in letting go of a service position was when my term as Group Representative (GR) ended. I started announcing the group was going to need a new GR about 6 months before the end of my term. I had followed suggestions to share the benefits of service, what I enjoyed about being a GR and the gifts I received through the experience. No one in the group was interested or willing to take on the role. My term ended and I moved into a new service role. The group was without a GR. Different people,… Read more »