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Al-Anon Forum Magazine Featured Article
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Group Conscience Minutes 2007
- A Message from a Higher Power Walked into the Store
- Have you ever wished tht your Higher Power would speak up more clearly and tell you exactly what you needed to do?
- My Higher Power did exactly that. But I discovered that I don't always want to be told what to do - or when to do it - even by my Higher Power. It is much more comfirtable to do it in my own time, at my own pace.
- Ten years ago, my life was in transition. My 28-year marriage to a dry alcoholic and adult child of an alcoholic had ended. I had received my college degree after struggling for years with financial issues. And I was burned out from my perfectionism at school and exhausted from a relationship with another alcoholic. I had debts but no job.
- I asked my Higher Power for help and guidance. By then I had been in Al-Anon long enough to know I had to trust my Higher Power's guidance.
- So, as scary as it was, I loaded my car with some clothes and 25-year-old camping gear. The car was 15 years old and less than 100% reliable. But I headed west without an itinerary in mind. I trusted my Higher Power would guide me to whatever I was supposed to learn.
- What better way to start a new chapter in my life than setting out to learn more abut myself and life's possibilities by keeping it simple?
- Eventually I found myself in the Southwest, in a spot famous for being a center for spiritual seekers and spiritual healers. One afternoon, I was talking about my spiritual quest with the owner of a small bookstore. He recommended a best-selling spiritual book that I had heard of, but had not read.
- At that moment, a man entered the bookstore with a number of copies of the very book the store owner and I were discussing. He was the author of the book we had been discussing, and he promptly presented me with an autographed copy.
- I don't believe coincidences of this sort happen purely by chance. For me, this apparent coincidence was clearly a message from my Higher Power.
- One might think that this book would have something important to say to me about my spiritual life. But for me, the book itself and how I recieved it is the spiritual message - not the text on its pages, which I may eventually read some day. The book, sitting on my bookshelf, gives me the message that my Higher Power is close at hand, always ready to help. That is God's message to me.
- The course of my life continues to be shaped by the experiences of that trip. I have a greater understanding of Step Eleven, a stronger connection to, and trust in, my Higher Power. I trust that I was being guided - and loved - by the Universe and that all will be well.
- When I returned home, I got a call from an employer I'd left my resume with several weeks before I began my trip. That organization subsequently hired me and I continue to work there. I also continue to pursue a passsion I discovered during my journey to the Southwest - archaeology.
- Today, I have less need for powerful bolts of lightning and crashing thunder. My Higher Power doesn't have to work so hard to show me He's there for me. I just have to be willing to accept and follow the guidance.
- By Anonymous
Published November, 2006
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Alcoholism is a family disease. Those of us who live with, or have have lived with, this disease as children or adults sometimes have problems which the Al-Anon program can help us to resolve. If you have answered yes to some of all of the above questions, Al-Anon may be of help to you. You can contact Al-Anon by checking your local telephone directory, or from the Resources page. Phone numbers and Contact Information for the Austin Area are listed on the Contact Page of this website.
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- These articles were reproduced with permission from 'The Forum', the monthly inspirational newsletter of Al-Anon. Al-Anon World Headquarters, Inc. is located in Virginia Beach, VA. See www.Al-Anon.org for more information.
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