Bookmarks – January – Change Starts with Me

Change Starts with Me

It’s January! Yipee!

A great time for belt-tightening of all sorts.

For instance, I confess to eating so much candy and cookies over the holidays that my tongue put on a coat of something funky—probably in self-protection! So I stopped eating that stuff. My tongue is grateful.

I pay the bills in our home. Nothing like the start of the New Year to assess our spending and interest payoff rates! Last year, I became aware that our finances were becoming unsustainable, especially in December.

But it wasn’t until I sat down and took stock this week that I got serious about making some needed changes. These changes won’t radically affect our lifestyle but will definitely improve our financial footing.

Reigning in the overeating and overspending make me feel good. I can see that I was out of control. Which is actually pretty funny, since I’ve been a control freak most of my life. But because of Al-Anon, I can find the humor in this situation.

So instead of making unrealistic resolutions, I have a plan that begins with “Just for Today.”

That’s the beauty part of Al-Anon. I can take the slogans and the tools I’ve learned and apply them in all my affairs. Little by little, the holiday clutter in my home has been removed. I have become more mindful of making time for the things I want to do along with the things I need to do.

This past Monday, I had the great privilege of chairing an exceptional meeting. (My home group holds a Step/Tradition meeting on our first meeting of the month.) We used Reaching for Personal Freedom to explore Step One: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.”

Some members had their own copies. A newcomer brought her parents. The eight of us shared our books and our stories on the topic of powerlessness. It was the most powerful meeting I ever experienced at my home group. I was awestruck.

As it says in that book and in this month’s Forum, we are powerless, but we are not helpless. I know what I can and cannot change. Change starts with me, and just for today, I’m ready!

Thanks for letting me share!