One Day at a Time in Al-Anon:
It isn’t easy to grasp the Al-Anon idea of detachment. We are told to detach from the problem, but not from the suffering alcoholic. Yer when one disaster after another overtakes us, it is hard to distinguish between them.
Some try to do it by making a grim resolve not to speak. Such silence, filled with bitterness and anger, screams louder than words. It hurts us; it gives the alcoholic a cause for grievance, and it does nothing to communicate our love and compassion.
Others look for distractions to such a time-filling degree that their first duties are neglected, duties to the family and the home, including the alcoholic.
Today’s Reminder:
Detaching our minds from the problem can truly promote our spiritual growth, and lessen the unrecognized personal guilt we carry around within us. It can lift the mind away from the partner’s doings. Such detachment shows us each new day as an opportunity to free ourselves from a sense of injury that is a blend of resentment and self-pity.
“When I detach my mind from what is troubling me, my problems often solve themselves. Or it may be that leaving them to God gives Him a chance to take a hand in my affairs.”