Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill 
A man without ambition is dead. A man with ambition but no love is dead. A man with ambition and love for his blessings here on earth is ever so alive. --Pearl Bailey Is our glass half full or half empty? We may see ourselves as positive people, but when we take the time to examine our thoughts closely, we may be surprised. We may have a lot to complain about, but so what? We can choose misery or happiness. It's all in how we see that glass. Instead of griping about bills, we become thankful for the money that is coming in. Instead of thinking about what activities we're missing in our lives, we're grateful for the solitude. Instead of being hurt by what friends and family aren't doing, we feel blessed we have them in our lives in the first place. Today I will humble myself by counting my blessings, knowing that without them I would truly be lost. |
My Awakening-
When I Realized I Wasn't Always Right When I first went to Al-Anon, I never intended to stay for 20 years. I wanted a quick solution: tell me what to do, I’ll do it, and be just fine—thank you very much, and I won’t have to go to all those meetings. What a misconception that was.
I came back for six meetings, as was suggested. Then I kept coming back because there was something there. I couldn’t name it. I just knew there was a feeling, an acceptance—an understanding. The people sitting around the table knew how I felt. I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t alone. They had something I wanted, even if I didn’t know what it was yet. I heard a lady tell her story: it sounded like my life. She talked and I cried. She had lived a life so similar to mine, it was scary. She spoke from her heart. I went to a convention and I heard a speaker say, “You are only as sick as your secrets.” That statement hit me between the eyes because I kept everything a secret. From listening to people talk and reading the literature, I realized I was doing a lot of things wrong. I was part of the problem. I had to take responsibility for my part of the sick behavior that was going on in our home. When I got a Sponsor, I was shown how to work the Steps, how to take an inventory, and how to acknowledge my character defects—all in a loving manner. That was a tough one for me because I had a very big ego. I read once, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?” I looked at that sentence and thought, “I am not happy unless I am right.” Then I got it. That might be a character defect, because no one is always right. Some early messages I got from Al-Anon were, “It takes two people to make an argument;” “Don’t react;” “Walk away;” say the Serenity Prayer; and say to someone, “You could be right.” When I came to my first Al-Anon meeting, I did not want to be at that meeting. I thought I had sunk as low as I could go. Today I know that my Higher Power, whom I choose to call God, was doing for me what I could not do for myself. Al-Anon was truly a gift from God. My life may not have been what I wanted it to be, but it has been what God knew I needed for my growth. By Beverly M., Missouri April, 2011 Reprinted with permission of The Forum Al-Anon Family Groups Incorporated, Virginia Beach, VA 
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Today's Hope is a Recovery themed site with a focus on Friends and Families of Alcoholics and problem drinkers. We are not affiliated with any 12 Step program. The daily sharings contain a reading from
Al-Anon's Conference Approved publication The Forum, an inspirational quote/saying and a recovery based reading/meditation. The intent of Today's Hope is to share experience, strength and hope. Please take what you like and leave the rest. |