Courage to Change with Karen Gardinier

As I heal and grow, I find that it is simply not enough to just survive. 

If I can see nothing but trouble I am seeing with limited vision.  I must use the tools I have learned in Al-Anon to shift my perception.  

With each new challenge, many of still need reminding that "there is no situation to difficult to be bettered and no unhappiness too great to be lessened".

With a clear picture of my loved ones in my higher powers care, I am much more able to let go and let God.  

I've grown enough in Al-Anon To realize that the look, tone or mood of another person toward me often has nothing to do with me. 

The more I give thanks for my life as it is, The more I can accept the healing that allows me to change and grow. 

Recovery can involve as much unlearning as learning.  My security cannot be based on learning "the rules" because once I truly learn them, they change.  

Does Analyzing my situation provide any useful insights, or is it an attempt to control the uncontrollable? 

Sometimes the only way I can determine what to accept and what to change is by trial and error.  Mistakes can be opportunities to gain the wisdom to know the difference.

When I gather flowers, or marvel at nature's wonders, I do not lose face when I concede that I am not in control.

No situation is really hopeless! 

When things don't happen according to my schedule, I can accept that there may be a reason, and I can learn to adjust to what is.  

No matter how long I work the Al-Anon program, I will never cease finding new ways to apply it to my life.  

The perspective I've gained through Al-Anon has shown me that some of the most difficult times in my life have produced the most wonderful changes.  

We are all as unique as out fingerprints, but as our fingers join in the closing prayer, each of us is part of a circle of hope that is greater than any of our individual differences.  

Let me learn to be the kind of person I would like to have as a friend. 

Service helps me remember. 

Suddenly I am aware of a familiar chaos.  It is a signal that my life has, for the time being, become unmanageable.  I will try to acknowledge this- and then put a little spiritual space between my problems and myself.  

Maybe life is a series of experiments.  Just for today I might try slightly changing some pattern of behavior that repeatedly causes me problems, just to see what happens.  

I don't have the power to change another person.  If I am dealing with Violence, I must be the one who changes.  

It is important to express my ideas.  It is also important to accept the outcome.  

In meeting after meeting in Al-Anon I am reminded that I can only work with what i have today.  

There is no more need to judge or hate myself just because I experience human feeling.  

The painful lessons of a lifetime are not unlearned overnight, but Al-Anon is helping me to learn that it is safe to feel, to hope, even to dream.  

My Higher Power's gifts sometimes take unusual forms.  Perhaps something I regard as a problem is really a form of assistance.