Celebrating Our Service Gifts

Growing up in a Hispanic home affected by alcoholism, leadership was, at best, elusive. The louder, raging voice ruling with fear and control was the means for leading. I became a good people-pleaser, but I balked at any direction, and I froze at the thought of...

Changed Attitudes Can Aid Leadership

I had only been in the program for seven years when one of my employees took me aside to let me know that my boss had declared he wanted to fire me. Wait, what?! I was shocked. In our weekly meetings, my boss and I disagreed about product design, but he had never said...

Desperate to Change

I once read that 80 percent of people make changes out of desperation, while only 20 percent change due to inspiration. When I attended my first Al-Anon meeting, I was certainly not inspired to change—I was desperate. The truth is that pain can be a great motivator...

“Keep Coming Back”

At one of my first Al-Anon meetings, a member shared that a reading helped to clear up her thinking—like cleaning off a dirty windshield. She felt she had gained some clarity. When I came to Al-Anon 15 years ago, I was in a fog of denial. Even though there was...