Bookmarks – September – The Power of Repetition

The Power of Repetition

In a recent Forum issue, I read a sentence that stopped my eyes.

It talked about Al-Anon as a program of repetition.

What hit me was how true that is in my life: I need to work my program every day, or else I suffer the consequences of my default urge to control.

In Al-Anon, repeating is never “the same old, same old.” Over the years, I may have read the same reading from Courage to Change many times. But, because I approach my Conference Approved Literature as a vital aid to living in balance, I never come away from a reading with the same message or insight. The reading may strike me a bit differently, or go a little deeper, from when I first read it. Because I am a bit different today from that first time. In fact, I believe I am much different today from when I first came into the rooms of Al-Anon. I feel healthier, calmer, more in tune with myself.

Meetings are important for me to maintain that sense of serenity. But when in-person meetings are infrequent, my sponsor’s not available, or I’m not “up” for a virtual meeting, Al-Anon literature saves my bacon. I have probably read and said the Steps and Traditions hundreds of times. The messages repeat. But they always resonate with me, perhaps one more than another, depending on the kind of day I’m having.

Each page of our daily readers—the bedrock of our literature—carries an important message. How I respond reflects where I’m at, and my response is always unique to that particular day.

Somewhere else I read that the human condition is to forget. I know that is true for me. I require reminders on a daily basis. I need to remember how it used to be, how truly unhappy I was. I need to latch onto the slogans, make time to read from The Forum, or go further into any of the other Al-Anon books I have.

Naturally, I don’t always do what I need to do. But I know I have what I need to help me when I’m struggling, or to help me stay on the best path I can live. It’s all there in the literature, and it’s at my fingertips.

Thanks for letting me share!