WHAT I LEARNED: If Al-Anon was not supported by its own members, think of everything that would go away… groups, CAL literature, phone hotlines, websites, Gratitude Dinners, Conventions, & even the World Service Office. The Seventh Tradition reminds me that no one is an island & it makes me grateful for everything that we do…
Tag: One Day At A Time
MTG – The Villages – “Friday Freedom AFG”
WHAT I LEARNED: Sometimes it’s ok for me to say “no” to service, because then that gives someone else a chance to say “yes” & they were the better fit!
N. FL Fall Assembly 2014 – Day 1 of 3
WHAT I LEARNED: A sign of a good speaker is when they start speaking & all I can think is “I’m freezing,” but by the time they’re done with their story, I’ve completely forgotten that I was ever cold at all!
CAL – Alateen Tells It Like It Is / Walk This Path of Hope (Item # AV-16 / AV-19)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. “Alateen Tells It Like It Is” (item # AV-16) came out in 1987 & according to past Conference Summaries, it’s a 16-minute video illustrated by a teenager that provides a glimpse into the lives of Alateen members. It deals with denial, anonymity, detachment, acceptance, & love. “Walk This Path of Hope”…
CAL – Al-Anon Speaks For Itself (Item # AV-10)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. In 1986, Al-Anon’s first outreach film “Al-Anon Speaks For Itself” (item # AV-10) helped carry the message to teachers, the clergy, the media, social workers, counselors, & other professionals. The 15-minute program featured stories from members from all walks of life & was broken into 5 sections: 1) The Way It…
CAL – Guidelines for Newsletter Editors (Item # G-21)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. For some reason I thought newsletters were only for Districts, but apparently they can also be for Areas & Al-Anon Information Services. 2. Reading this item made me miss our newsletter for District 6. We voted to discontinue it in place of our website, however according to this guideline, there’s a…
CAL – District Meetings (Item # G-15)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Just like group meetings, district meetings can vary widely. Hence the autonomousness nature of the program (see Tradition 4). 2. FYI: The Greek word autonomos means “having one’s own laws,” from autos: “self” & nomos: “law.” That’s your word origin of the day! 🤓 ━━━━━▼━━━━━ **UPDATE (5/5/17): This guideline was revised…
CAL – As We Understood… (Item # B-11)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Based on its size, this book looks like it might be a daily reader, but it’s not designed that way. The purpose of the book was to share members’ sense of the spiritual (not religious) nature of the program. It doesn’t focus on any one particular Step & I’m glad for…
CAL – Al-Anon Information Services (AIS) (Item # G-4)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. For quite some time there was confusion in the fellowship about the responsibilities, boundaries, & differences between information services, Literature Distribution Centers (LDCs), intergroups, & information service liaisons. The World Service Office responded by creating this particular guideline & a separate one titled “Literature Distribution Centers” (item # G-18). 2. Any…
CAL – Moving On! From Alateen to Al-Anon (Item # P-59)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. This is my lowest selling pamphlet. Since December 2011, I’ve only sold a grand total of 1 — & that was at a Gratitude Dinner. So here again I thought “Why do I need to read this? …No one else is!” And once again, now after having read it, I feel…
CAL – Detachment (Item # S-19)
WHAT I LEARNED: This leaflet started out in a World Service Office newsletter for professionals to educate them on how Al-Anon uses the word “detachment” but this outreach piece soon became a runaway hit with members for their own personal recovery. At a meeting last year, I heard this leaflet read aloud & the first…
CAL – Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism (Item # B-1)
To me, there’s something intriguing about reading discontinued books. I feel like I’m uncovering something they no longer want me to know. This is how I felt reading Al-Anon’s second book, “Al-Anon Faces Alcoholism” (item # B-1) that I got from our District Archives chairperson. 1. The first edition originally came out in 1965 at…
CAL – Alateen-a day at a time (Item # B-10)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. As of this year, 2013, this book has been around for 30 years! It’s Alateen’s first daily reader & is very different than Alateen’s second daily reader “Living Today in Alateen” (item # B-26). It seems it is for older teens because there are no pictures, drawings, or even quotes from…
** Thank you for your sympathy wishes **
This blog has been silent for the past 3 weeks because, as some of you are already aware, my boyfriend of 16 years died of a drug overdose on 11/18/13. No one was aware he was shooting up. He hid it well & didn’t reach out to anybody. And it saddens me to think that the…
CAL – In All Our Affairs: Making Crises Work For You (Item # B-15)
WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Right away I liked that this book is broken up into 4 parts: Awareness, Acceptance, Action, & Moving On. And for me, reading this couldn’t have come at a better time, because I was going through what I considered a crisis this past month. But after so many stories about violence,…
CAL – Just for Today Wallet Card (Item # M-10)
WHAT I LEARNED: This wallet card has been around since 1954 & I thought, given its small size, it would have less on it than the bookmark version (item # M-12), but it actually has more. It has 2 extra sentences – one about the Seventh Tradition & the second refers to the 10 other…
"CAL Chat" Blog ~My journey in Al-Anon~ 