Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity,
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
Welcome
We welcome you to our LGBTQ Al-Anon Family Group and hope you will find in this fellowship the help and friendship we have been privileged to enjoy.
We who live, or have lived, with the problem of alcoholism understand as perhaps few others can.
We, too, were lonely and frustrated, but in Al‐Anon we discover that no situation is really hopeless and that it is possible for us to find contentment, and even happiness, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not. We urge you to try our program. It has helped many of us find solutions that lead to serenity. So much depends on our own attitudes, and as we learn to place our problem in its true perspective, we find it loses its power to dominate our thoughts and our lives. The family situation is bound to improve as we apply the Al‐Anon ideas. Without such spiritual help, living with an alcoholic is too much for most of us. Our thinking becomes distorted by trying to force solutions, and we become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it.
The Al‐Anon program is based on the Twelve Steps (adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous), which we try, little by little, one day at a time, to apply to our lives, along with our slogans and the Serenity Prayer. The loving interchange of help among members and daily reading of Al‐Anon literature thus make us ready to receive the priceless gift of serenity.
Anonymity is an important principle of the Al‐Anon program. Everything that is said here, in the group meeting and member-to-member, must be held in confidence. Only in this way can we feel free to say what is in our minds and hearts, for this is how we help one another in Al‐Anon.
This is an open meeting; we welcome visitors seeking information about Al‐Anon as well as newcomers and all members of Al‐Anon.
Membership
Tradition Three: The relatives of alcoholics, when gathered together for mutual aid, may call themselves an Al‐Anon Family Group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem of alcoholism in a relative or friend.
Al‐Anon membership is open to anyone who feels their life has been affected by someone else’s drinking, either currently or in the past. In keeping with Tradition Three, all family members and friends of problem drinkers are welcome to attend Al‐Anon meetings in order to decide for themselves whether Al‐Anon can benefit them. New members are encouraged to attend different meetings, to find groups where they feel most comfortable.
Do's & Don'ts
Do:
• Do forgive
• Do be humble
• Do take it easy — tension is harmful
• Do play — find recreation and hobbies
• Do keep on trying whenever you fail
• Do learn the facts about alcoholism
• Do attend Al-Anon meetings often
• Do pray
Don’t:
• Don't be self-righteous
• Don't try to dominate, nag, scold and complain
• Don't lose your temper
• Don't try to push anyone but yourself
• Don't keep bringing up the past
• Don't keep checking up on the alcoholic
• Don't wallow in self-pity
• Don't make threats you don't intend to carry out
• Don't be over-protective
• Don't be a doormat
In Closing...
In closing, I would like to say that the opinions expressed here were strictly those of the person who gave them.
Take what you like and leave the rest.
The things you heard were spoken in confidence and should be treated as confidential. Keep them within the walls of this room and the confines of your mind.
A few special words to those of you who haven’t been with us long: Whatever your problems, there are those among us who have had them, too. If you try to keep an open mind, you will find help. You will come to realize that there is no situation too difficult to be bettered and no unhappiness too great to be lessened. We aren’t perfect. The welcome we give you may not show the warmth we have in our hearts for you. After a while, you’ll discover that though you may not like all of us, you’ll love us in a very special way—the same way we already love you.
Talk to each other, reason things out with someone else, but let there be no gossip or criticism of one another. Instead, let the understanding, love, and peace of the program grow in you one day at a time.
Will all who care to, join me in closing with the Serenity Prayer followed by the Al‐Anon Declaration
God grant me the serenity,
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
The Al-Anon Declaration:
When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, let the hand of Al‐Anon always be there, and Let It Begin with Me.
“Keep Coming Back, It Works If You Work It.... And We’re All Worth It.”