One Day at a Time in Al-Anon:
Newcomers to Al-Anon often ask what makes the alcoholic drink. They seem more eager to know why than to learn why they allow another’s compulsive drinking to affect them so destructively.
The causes of the drinker’s desperate need for escape through alcohol aren’t easily explained, even by the trained psychiatrist.
We must accept the fact that the alcoholic suffers from a sickness. The family may be able to help him to want sobriety, by changing its way of thinking and acting. In Al-Anon we learn how to conquer our own self-defeating attitudes.
Today’s Reminder:
What a blessed relief it is to be able to face our problems with confidence, hope and serenity. If we can recognize and admit our own shortcomings with increasing honesty, it opens the door to a new world for us, and often makes a seemingly miraculous change in the alcoholic as well.
“Let me free myself from the illusion that I can do anything directly to conquer the disease from which the alcoholic suffers. I need not suffer from another’s illness, if only I am willing to accept help for myself. This indirectly helps the alcoholic.”