What’s in your holiday toolkit? Do you dread spending holidays with family? What tools have you found to make the experience tolerable or even joyful?
- (Realistic) expectations.
- Recognize when you are feeling stressed (HALTS?)
- Escape plans.
- Literature.
- Locate and plan to attend meetings if you will be out of your usual area.
- Phone list.
- Arrange with sponsor or friends to call them.
- Don’t stay with your family — have a refuge you can go back to.
- Sit at the kids table.
- Don’t engage in arguments. (WAIT — Why am I talking?)
- (No) expectations.
- Keep your recovery routines, such as prayer and meditation.
Readings and Links
Al-Anon e-books can are available. Visit the Al-Anon store for details.
A caller described several resources for visually impaired or blind people. These are
- BARD, a free app available from the Library of Congress .
- Voice Dream Reader, $20, downloads and reads websites.
- iPhone has a service called “voice over” that can read books purchased for iBooks.
- BookShare is a subscription service that has many audio books.
- And, of course, there is the Audible audio books subscription service.
Upcoming topics
A couple of topics suggested by listeners are “Men in Al-Anon”, and “Double winnersPlease call us at 734-707-8795 or email feedback@therecovery.show with your questions or experience, strength and hope. Or just leave a comment right here.
I appreciated the share about and list of resources for the visually impaired. I will be sharing those with my partner.
Regarding men in meetings: I am a woman and many of my codependency issues revolve around my relationships with men; whether it be sexual, romantic, platonic, familial or work/service related. I have found that hearing the shares of men over the years has helped me to question a lot of my own gender biases and let go of many of my pre-conceived notions (prejudices) so that I more able to see each man I interact with as a unique individual which has made a tremendous, positive changes in every aspect of my life. I am grateful for the courage and vulnerability of the men I’ve heard in meetings and on these podcasts.
Thank you.