MTG – Orlando – “Today’s Hope AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: “It is in trying to understand less that I experience more.”– quote from “Hope For Today” (item # B-28), page 206 (July 24th).  Since I personally feel there is no way I could possibly fully understand my Higher Power, does this mean that Step 11 could read as: “…to improve our conscious…

N. FL Summer Assembly 2019 – Days 1 – 3

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I have lost a lot of pain in Al-Anon. 2. Wise people plant trees under whose shade they’ll never sit. 3. We give from the gratitude we’ve already gotten. 4. The alcoholic has not volunteered to get sober. 5. God’s will for me is to stop playing God! 6. Joy is…

N. FL Area Convention 2018 – Days 1 – 3

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Fear is a dark room where negative emotions are exposed. 2. After I make amends, my weapons are no longer licensed. 3. The more I forget, the more I keep coming back! 4. I need to let go… of my need to know. 5. Sometimes I need to experience the consequences of…

MTG – Orlando – “Courage 2 Be Me Alateen AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: Sometimes mispronounced words makes me hear things differently – for example: A) Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unimaginable. B) Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, & to another human being the abstract nature of our wrongs.

N. FL Fall Assembly 2017 – Days 1 – 3

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. When I keep words like: should, shouldn’t, good, bad… out of my vocabulary, then I become more grateful. 2. I think that I think too much. 3. It’s important to know the difference between the God of my perception versus the God of my understanding. 4. If I don’t qualify my…

N. FL Area Convention 2017 – Days 1 – 3

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Tradition 4 is about protecting Al-Anon for future generations. 2. When applauding an alcoholic’s total years of sobriety, I am actually applauding God’s work! 3. The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, it’s connection… Connection to a Higher Power. 4. Sometimes I need to put butter on it… & “let it…

CAL – Reaching For Personal Freedom (Item # P-92)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. The guest for my next “CAL Chat” podcast show (Episode #7) chose this workbook, “Reaching for Personal Freedom” (item # P-92), as his favorite literature piece.  I’ll be posting that episode soon at calchatpodcast.com, but wanted to get my review in this blog first…  This workbook has the rare distinction of…

CAL – Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual 2014-2017 (Item # P-24/27)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Originally, I only read the “Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual” on an as-needed basis, but when my next podcast guest said that this was her favorite book that she wanted to talk about on my “CAL Chat” show, I had to dust off my manual & put on my scuba reading mask to…

CAL – Forum Favorites, Vol. 1 (Item # B-9A)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. As an Area Archivist once said, “I love my position because I get to time travel.”  I too feel I get to step into the ‘Wayback Machine’ whenever I read discontinued Al-Anon literature.  When this “Forum Favorites” book was first published in 1970 it was a hefty hard cover book &…

N. FL Spring Assembly 2016 – Day 2 of 3

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. It is impossible to out-give Al-Anon. 2. “Wait” stands for: Why Am I Talking? 3. The 3 B’s: Be brief, Be calm, & Be gone. 4. Welcome God into your conflict. 5. God is in the pause. 6. If your serenity was stolen, it was probably an inside job!

CAL – Forum Favorites, Vol. 2 (Item # B-9B)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Since I’m reading the entire discontinued “Forum Favorites” series from most recent to oldest (see my previous entries for Volume 3 (item # B-9C) & Volume 4 (item # B-9D)), this Volume 2 (item # B-9B) came as a shock because it was immediately apparent that every story was in the…

CAL – Al-Anon’s 12 Steps & 12 Traditions – Original (Item # B-8)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. If you’re following along with each post chronologically, then you’ve come to this entry to find out what is different in this original (now discontinued) version from 1981 compared to the revised 2005 version.  If the program hasn’t changed, why did the book change & what am I missing that was…