leadership dot #1802: one day at a time

While at a garage sale, I found a copy for sale of the One Day at Time in Al-Anon meditation book. This is a set of daily reflections and lessons for those in Al-Anon, "a fellowship of relatives and friends of alcoholics."

I wonder what the story is behind this book and what prompted its place at the garage sale. Did the owner give up on working with Al-Anon? Maybe the alcoholic is no longer in their life? Perhaps the book belonged to someone who is now unable to use it due to death, frailty, illness, etc.? Did they even want the book in the first place so as to give it a fair chance?

We will never know the circumstances that prompted the book's purchase or disposal, but we can be confident that there is a story behind it. We don't know the owner's struggles, or the journey that most others around us are on, but we all share a common humanity that is full of challenges.

Whether we are in Al-Anon or not, we could all benefit by taking some of their lessons to heart, such as these reminders:

> Sharing experiences widens one's horizons and opens out new and better ways to deal with difficulties. There is no need to solve them alone. (January 4)> I will make this day a happy one, for I alone can determine what kind of day it will be. (March 19)
> Things cannot always go as you want them to. Accept disappointment quietly; cultivate the gift of silence when speaking may aggravate the difficulty. (May 27)
> God grant me the sense of proportion to judge the difference between an incident and a crisis. (October 19)
> Let me observe, with new interest, even the commonplace things that happen in each new day. (December 10)

Wishing you the fortitude to make life better for yourself and others, One Day At a Time.