Having issues today– Dry alcoholic husband, need some words of wisdom.?

Question by Beth: Having issues today– Dry alcoholic husband, need some words of wisdom.?
I am somewhat in dire need of an al-anon reading- from any book to help myself ponder the feelings that I am having today. I am at work feeling this way which is no way healthy and not allowing me to focus on what I need to focus on (my job, my patients). My husband is laid off and did nothing other than stay up til 2 in the morning or later… not sure, he was awake when I went to the bathroom at 1:30 am. Anyhow, I fell asleep fantasizing, if you will, about all the bad things that happened right before treatment began. I am starting to worry about a lot of things. I go to al-anon meetings weekly and he does not attend AA any longer and does not have a sponser or even attempt to work the steps. He says everyone deals with their addiction differently which I believe is true. He is not only an alcoholic though. He is currently recieving treatment for opiate addiction as well through suboxone, a methadone supplement that is not an opiate but an opiate receptor blocker. I am just so lost today. I need a reading, from anyone… Just type one out for me. Maybe one on detaching with love, or resentment. If anyone has a book sitting near by, please type a reading for me. Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by marybuko
Beth, I can relate to your lost feeling…confusion and despair. I was feeling it today, so went to a lunchtime Al-Anon meeting and it was helpful, but oh, those negative feelings can quickly come right back. I didn’t bring my 3 daily readers with me to the meeting, but read them usually in the evening. In the “Courage to Change” book, on February 14th…yes Valentine’s Day…there’s a reading on confusion. I remember it because the of the love holiday being associated with confusion. The first line in that reading says something like…confusion can be a gift from God. We tend to always think of confusion as a bad thing, so it’s telling us it may be an okay thing to be confused. And on that same page there is a quote from Helen Keller…can’t remember the exact quote…but it’s about us being content in whatever state we are in whether it’s in the darkness or the light.

I usually carry a copy of the monthly Al-Anon Forum magazine in my carry bag, but can’t seem to find it. Though I do have the “Just for Today” bookmark with me. I didn’t realize the St. Francis prayer was on it. Maybe we’ll both be helped by me typing it….Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Hope we’ll be having a better tomorrow!

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