“We couldn’t help ourselves,
but we could help each other.”

~by Michael Z

So many family members who call Changing Lives Foundation
feel like they are all alone in their struggles.
Our best advice to those who have limited resources is
to visit an Open AA meeting or two, attend an Al-Anon or Nar-Anon meeting.
There,they will find others with similar concerns.
Many of the people in these meetings offer gems of wisdom just like this
from Michael Z.
Read what he has to say about helping others, the power of God and ultimately, helping yourself—

Before recovery I did everything I could think of to get better on my own. I’d try to stop drinking during the week; then on Mondays through Thursdays. I’d join a gym and exercise a while, or I’d go on a healthy diet. I went into therapy to work on myself, and I started journaling. At the end of all of this, though, I’d find myself alone, depressed and drunk.

When I entered the program, I thought I might finally learn how to help myself. Instead, I was given direction that made no sense. “Wash the coffee cups after the meeting,” I was told. “Get a commitment to get to a meeting early and set the chairs up.” “Become a greeter and ask other people how they are doing.” What about me? I thought. How am I going to get better if I’m focused on helping others rather than myself? Even though I didn’t understand it, I was desperate, so I followed your direction.

And that’s when the miracle took place. Over time I came to see that alone I couldn’t, but together we could recover. I learned that the solution began when I got out of myself and helped you. That when two alcoholics got together, that’s when the power of God flowed and healed us both. Ultimately I learned that when I was helping you, you were helping me and that was the solution I could never find by myself.

Today I know that while I can’t help myself, I can always help you – and together, we can help each other.

________________________________________________

Excerpted from “The Wisdom of the Rooms Volume 2″
~by Michael Z.