Courage to Change:
In Al-Anon I discovered that I needed to make changes in myself. After a lifetime of living with a disease of attitudes — alcoholism — I didn’t think very highly of myself, so I didn’t have much faith that anything good could come out of my efforts.
I learned better by watching my son’s silkworms. Silkworms are fat and greedy creatures, but out of their own substance, they create something beautiful. They have no choice in the matter. They were born to express this beauty.
I, too, can transform something negative into something positive; by changing my self-defeating attitudes, I become a more beautiful human being. I was born with this beauty inside me, and if I will only allow myself, I can express it freely. Al-Anon helps me learn to put love first in my life. And gratitude, a cornerstone of my Al-Anon recovery, brings hidden loveliness clearly into view.
Today’s Reminder:
Today I can spin a little silk and let it grace everything I touch. I don’t have to look back to past ugliness except to learn from it, to enhance the present, and to release whatever beauty is trapped behind old secrets and self-defeating attitudes. One day at a time I can delight in the splendid person I am becoming.
“Sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness…until it flowers again from within…”
– Galway Kinnell