This week, Karen B tells her story and shares her experience, strength, and hope. Karen grew up in a loving family that nonetheless carried the family disease — in adult children of alcoholics.

Her aunt took her to Alateen. She says she loved the slogans, but she didn't stick with it. In her early twenties, when she was dating the man who became her husband, she went to Al-Anon to see whether she thought he was an alcoholic. The stories she heard were so much worse than her experience, she decided he was not one. 5 years later, she came back, “propelled” into Al-Anon by the chaos in their home. This time, she grabbed onto the program as a lifeline.

Readings

Karen read from Courage to Change:

• July 5, Detachment
• March 15, Forgiveness

We talked about an Al-Anon pamphlet, “The Merry Go Round named Denial”, which seems to be out of print. I found a version of it on the internet.

Karen mentioned her “serenity cubes“.

Coming next

In the next couple weeks, because of my travel schedule, I will be sharing Mary Pearl T's talks about Step 2 and Step 3. Step 2 says “We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”  Step 3 is “We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God, as we understood him”. Please call us at 734-707-8795 or email feedback@therecoveryshow.com with your questions or experience, strength and hope. Or just leave a comment right here.

Music from the show

Idina Menzel — Let It Go

Dave Matthews — The Best of What's Around

Madonna — Rebel Heart

The music we open and close the show with is Teleportationism by Nostalgic Afterlife. If you enjoy it, you should check out his other compositions on Bandcamp.