“Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax.” I had somehow lost track of this wonderful suggestion from Al-Anon’s Just for Today bookmark (M-12). It’s not that I don’t have quiet half hours; I live alone. Rather, I had lost sight of the message, “During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.”

I hadn’t even noticed that it only needed to be “sometime,” not the whole time. Isn’t that our beautiful Al-Anon way of doing things? I can try too hard, forgetting that the half hour is meant for relaxation rather than the (possible) hard work of getting a better perspective. Even if the “sometime” is meant to occur during that half hour, obviously I don’t have to spend those full 30 minutes working out my perspective on life.

Now, I feel forgiven for what I considered my backsliding. Most of my quiet time can be devoted to “Easy Does It.” While I practice “Easy Does It,” my perspective on life will change for the better without any additional effort on my part. Thank you, Al-Anon.

By Beryl S.

The Forum, March 2026

 

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