March 3, 2011

March 2: Reading for Power


(Adapted for personal use from Courage to Change in Alanon.)

One of the most helpful tools I have found in the EA program is its literature. It took a long time to be willing to be open to other people and their stories, but the literature helped me to learn to replace a long-established, negative way of thinking with a new, healthier, more positive approach to life and love.

At first I used it only when I was in pain. Now I start every day out on a positive note by reading some EA literature every day.

But there is an Al-anon slogan that has really helped give a solid foundation to my EA recovery.  We don't have the Slogan, "Think," and sometimes that seems a real shame to me.  It's been  helpful to many others before me to "Think" about what they read in their program reading and condense it to a sentence of two. If  I write this sentence on a 3 x 5 card, I can  carry it with me throughout the day. Whenever I remember, I take out my card and read it. How often does something I read each day turn out to be just the thinking tool I needed to bring a difficult situation into perspective, or it offer me a different approach to a project or conversation I am about to begin.

Today's reminder is the flip side of the coin of March 1st's:  "I have a wealth of information available to me which can help me grow ever freer from the effects of my dysfunctional thinking. Today I will make our program literature a part of my routine, by listening to our conference approved materials or by reading a pamphlet or chapter from our books." 

Read in order to live. Henry Fielding


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