[Businessmtg] OT shares

[Apryl Schneider]

According to the Al-Anon traditions: 

5. Each Al-Anon Family Group has but one purpose: to help families of alcoholics. We do this by practicing the Twelve Steps of AA ourselves, by encouraging and understanding our alcoholic relatives, and by welcoming and giving comfort to families of alcoholics.

I believe we absolutely have a responsibility to share our experience, strength, and hope; however, when the questions, stories, requests have nothing to do with dealing with a person's crazy-making related to alcoholism whether in an immediate loved one or from FOO then it feels a tremendous lot like a plain old codependents self help meeting. While the person is in need, and no one is questioning that, I question the scope of our group providing counsel on unrelated topics. 

I do not support an extra file or list or assigning people as sponsors. They are wonderful ideas but are designed to make it easier for us broken folks to not have to learn and do the real work that those who have gone before us have had to do. 

We send out the information on how to participate to each new person. Yes, it CAN feel overwhelming but when has personal growth ever been easy and when has it been honest growth if there's no dedication or investment into it?

Like most folks, I need occasional reminders on how to stay within the guidelines of a lot of things. We are humans who are flawed but we can be guided by our steps and traditions and concepts into achieving serenity and finding out happiness if we are willing to do the work and to be occasionally reminded when we are outside of the lines. We are Al-Anons after all;  outside the lines is how we landed our fannies here in the first place. 

Apryl