One Day at a Time in Al-Anon:
“Taking the First Step” is not a matter of reading the words “admitted we were powerless…” but of impressing them so deeply on our consciousness that the admitting will be established as part of our way of thinking and feeling.
We may read and repeat this Step hundreds of times, and still fail to use it in the way we think and act. If we really accept the fact that we have no authority or power over any other human being, we would not try to compel the drinker to do what we want him to.
Have I attained this frame of mind? Can I make myself let go of the problem?
Today’s Reminder:
I will look back upon all the things I have done to make the alcoholic stop drinking. Has it produced one iota of improvement to scold, weep, complain, accuse, reason, appeal or threaten? Am I any better off today for indulging in these futile gestures? Is the drinker any closer to sobriety? Or is the situation worse?
“I pray for the wisdom to realize that progress begins only when I am ready to detach myself from the idea that I alone can control and solve another’s problem.”