What Al‑Anon tools do you use to help bring you back to a place of gratitude?
November’s topic is, “What Al‑Anon tools do you use to help bring you back to a place of gratitude?”
As always, you can also write about Al‑Anon’s three Legacies. This month features Step Eleven, Tradition Eleven, and Concept Eleven.
Sharings on the Member Blog may be used in future Al‑Anon publications.
New topics are being added each month!
I think the tools that keep me in gratitude the most are Step Four, “a searching and fearless moral inventory” of myself, and Step Ten, “continued to take personal inventory”. Most mornings I spend time writing a brief inventory that includes a gratitude list. The daily practice of thinking about the people and things I’m grateful for has done more to keep me in a place of gratitude than anything else. Some days I need to focus on the basics, like that I have a home, food, and enough resources to take care of myself. Other days it’s the people… Read more »
I was in college 25 years ago and learned about AA and Al-Anon in one of my psychology classes. I never imagined back then that I would be a part of this impressive family and am thankful I learned about it so many years ago and actually reached out when I was in truly desperate need. I have been attending Al-Anon meetings for 6 months and the Legacies (i.e. Steps, Traditions and Concepts) are read at the start of each of my “home” meetings. I’ve found a wonderful network of caring people who understand and accept me as I am.… Read more »
The 11th Step keeps me grounded in my spiritual purpose which is be grounded in the pain and joy of the present moment. It is so easy for me to spend the day looking forward to getting home or the morning dreading to go to work. This reminds me that I am, like the alcoholics in my life, an emotional fragile person who is susceptible to self-medication but through worry instead of booze! Believe me, worry can be detrimental to self and others! That being said, I do not pray in a conventional way and I do not meditate conventionally… Read more »
I use the gratitude ABC’s as a tool to remind me that even at my low times there are still many things to be grateful for. This can be done in my head or on paper. I can be silly or serious. Usually, it’s best to just use the first thing that pops into my head! By the time I am done with the entire alphabet I feel better, and I can better go about my day without dwelling on my troubles. A- apples B- brown rice C- cats D-dogs E-energy F-flowers G-Grant – one of my sons, oops I… Read more »
I am a grateful member of Al-Anon; it has sustained me well over the years. This may sound funny, but when I get into my car to do errands, I say the Serenity Prayer before I drive away. And then there’s the phrase “Keep Coming Back!” It has gotten me to meetings long after I stopped living with an alcoholic. You see, living with alcoholism is hard. Without recovery, negative thinking and habits develop which make our lives unmanageable. Since coming to Al-Anon, I catch myself responding negatively to situations, and my more healthy thinking can respond. Whether a situation… Read more »
Over the years I have used all the tools of Al-Anon in turn, depending what I was getting through or where I was at in my recovery. As I grew and recover, finding a place of gratitude became easier and faster to come by. I still need the tools of the program: the Slogans, the Serenity Prayer, the members, the meetings, our documentation, my Sponsor, involvement in service, our Three Legacies and my Higher Power, as I understand Him, to get to this place of gratitude, where I appreciate and I am thankful for what I have and where I… Read more »
I use the slogans “One Day at a Time” and “How Important Is It?” to bring me back to a place of gratitude. “One Day at a Time” reminds me to appreciate this day and to be grateful for everything in it; for the progress I’ve made that allows me to enjoy life now. “How Important Is It?” reminds me that there is something bigger than me. It reminds me to keep my focus on what is important – continuing my journey through recovery with gratitude that I found that thing that is bigger than me.
For me, it’s 12th Step work. As I listen to the persons I sponsors, walk with them through the Steps, and share the program tools with them, I’m reminded of all God has done in my life through this program. As I encourage them to wait for the miracles, I remember the miracles I’ve experienced. I see my own progress—it’s easy to lose sight of how far I’ve come until I talk with someone who is now where I used to be. And I’m amazed at how often I hear what I need to hear for my own recovery while… Read more »
What Al‑Anon tools do you use to help bring you back to a place of gratitude? There are a number of Al-Anon tools that I use and have used over the years to help bring me back to a place of gratitude. Reciting a gratitude list to myself has been number one for as long as I can remember. Lately, what has helped me refocus not only gratitude, but my program in general, has been going back to face-to-face meetings after nearly a two-year absence. Online meetings certainly kept me in the recovery, but they didn’t fill the need for… Read more »
I never understood or witnessed UNITY or HARMONY in my family affected by alcohol. I now get powerful witness of this in Group Business Meetings as well as in service positions in our District and Area meetings. To witness all those gathered, actively working towards unity in their decisions, was extremely powerful. I had never had this modelled for me before. The idea that “our common welfare should come first” (Tradition 1) was foreign to me as I fought hard in my family to come out on top so I might feel valued and worthwhile. Then to consider myself as… Read more »
How often we forget to give thanks for what we have? How often we get confused by the noises of the world? I have learned to stop and listen to my Higher Power. I have learned to meditate and single out all your negative thoughts. This program has taught many things especially to give thanks for what I am today.