Wilson House, here I come . . .

I am absolutely thrilled to have been invited to present a workshop at the Bill Wilson House in East Dorset, VT.  For one thing, I have never been to VT.  And secondly, I think I can safely speak for any one in AA when I say that to present a program there, feels like a truly spiritual gift.  To walk around on the same floors and stairs that he and Lois walked on sends chills up my spine.

Perhaps I have them on a pedestal.  I know they were mere mortals; however, we all know that without Bill and Bob and Lois too, millions of us would not be sober.  The program I am offering is about creating more peaceful relationships.  That’s been a main theme of mine these last few years.  The last few books I have written have at their core the subject of relationships and cultivating more peaceful ones.

It’s been my observation that none of us who wander into the rooms of AA and Al-Anon are all that successful at relationships.  We get better.  Thank goodness, but not without work.  I have needed both AA and Al-Anon in order to understand how to live more peacefully.  And most of the people I have met over the years who also are “double winners” seem to function in relationships more successfully that those who opt to ignore Al-Anon.

I have suggested to any number of people that they might want to consider Al-Anon and have at times been met with snarls.  And yet, I continue to suggest it.  I have simply seen the success of being a double winner too many times to not keep suggesting it.  One of my favorite friends in Naples, where I spend winters, also said “AA has taught me how to stay sober.  Al-Anon has taught me how to live with people.”  He was 40 years sober when he said that, and 8 years in Al-Anon.  All the double winners in the meeting knew exactly what he meant.

I’m not headed to VT to pound Al-Anon in the heads of the participants, but I’m quite likely to share my own experiences with being a member in both programs.  I know my sobriety has been helped and is helped a little bit more every time I go to an Al-Anon meeting.  Give it a try if you never had.  You just might be surprised.

May we all find the help, the love and the healing we need to be able to help others too.