Tools of the Program Lorna C., Illinois

There are many tools of the program and many ways of listing them. Here they are they way I discovered and used them:

• The Information Service: This was my first contact with Al-Anon. The telephone number was listed at the end of a newspaper article about enabling. I picked up the phone and used my first tool. 
  
• The Meeting: This is where it's at for me - recovery, serenity, fellowship, a life map. I still need to keep coming back for my regular doses of the program. 
  
• The Phone List: This was entrusted to me after I learned the meaning of anonymity. As I used it I grew in experience, strength and hope because that's what members were sharing with me. 
  
• Conference Approved Literature: This was the next tool I picked up and used. I wanted to know as much as I could as fast as I could. I read and read and read.
  
• The Slogans: Because they are short and easy to remember, the slogans became signposts along my way. 
  
• The Serenity Prayer: It was becoming clear to me that this is essentially a spiritual program. I got in touch with my Higher Power, the One I had forgotten and perhaps never had really known before Al-Anon. 
  
• Sponsorship: Now I was ready for this tool. I asked a wonderful lady to be my sponsor because she seemed to be just what I wanted to become. How she helped me is a whole story in itself. I learned I had choices from her. 
  
• The Twelve Steps: I had taken my First Step the night I climbed the stairs to my first meeting because I no longer believed I could do it myself. So I kept on climbing those stairs and the steps, again and again, never perfectly but always growing. 
  
• The Twelve Traditions: As I continued to grow in the program I wanted my group to always be there, delivering serenity to me and to anyone looking for it. 
  
• The District Meeting: I wanted to help my group keep following the Traditions so I served as group representative. Years later when I was in a new, struggling group I was led to the district to find help and became district representative. 
  
• The Area Meeting: Here was the tool that brought me new friends and new joy in living. Service became open meetings, workshops and conventions. I found that giving back what I had received from Al-Anon just brought me more and more. 
  
• World Service: When I hear delegates and trustees share their stories, it seems they have discoved people everywhere are very much alike. We share a common dissease and we share a recovery program that works.

Edmonton Al-Anon Information Service P.O. Box 1375 Edmonton, Alberta, T5J 2N2 (780) 433-1818 (24 hours)

Reprinted with permission of The Forum, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc. Virginia Beach, VA.