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…

CAL – My Journey in Service (Item # M-57)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. While perusing through some Al-Anon service tools in the Area Archives, I came across “My Journey in Service” (item # M-57).  At roughly 60 pages, the booklet is designed as a journal so it has lots of lined paper & blank spaces for writing, plus it includes a CAL service-oriented quote…

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 – Sexual Intimacy & the Alcoholic Relationship (Item # P-77)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Well surprise, surprise, this is not an instruction booklet on how to have sex with an alcoholic!  However, it does reassure me that I’m not the only one who has had difficulty in this area.  Intimacy, especially sexual intimacy, is a topic rarely brought up in Al-Anon meetings.  This must have…

CAL – Forum Favorites, Vol. 3 (Item # B-9C)

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. After I became the North Florida Area Literature Coordinator in 2015, I was “bequeathed” a lot of CAL & some were discontinued pieces.  Whoo-hoo!  So I’m slowly making my way through them & decided to start by reading the entire “Forum Favorites” series from most recent to oldest.  (See my previous…

MTG – Celebration – “Celebrate Recovery AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Even though the grass may actually be greener on the other side, I can be content & happy with the grass on my side!  It’s my lawn of serenity. 2. Detachment helps me put spiritual distance between me & those I love.

MTG – Winter Park – “Winter Park Morning AFG”

WHAT I LEARNED: 1. I used to be a carrier of the disease.  Now I’m a carrier of the message. 2. Question of the day:  If I had spiritual narcolepsy, does that mean every time I woke up, it would be a spiritual awakening?