Sharing our Success Stories
We know that as ACA‘s we sometimes focus on our problems and not on our successes. Some years ago, my home group decided to add to its format the question “Does anyone have a success in program to report this week?” We discovered two remarkable things. First, asking...
A Lake of People
When I was growing up and when I was an adult, I didn’t see myself as a separate entity. I would go through life like a person standing in a lake and all the other people I see are in the lake too. When someone has a feeling or a thought or a want or a demand, it was...
My Inner ACA Meeting
Sitting in a circle, listening, and sharing has been my weekly anker for the last 13 years and I’m still amazed by this way of support in ACA. Through literature, I’ve learnt about reparenting my inner children. The biggest breakthrough in connecting with my inner...
Making Words
How did I end up screaming at the top of my lungs, literally pulling my hair out, and doubled-over in excruciating emotional pain? How did I end up curled in the fetal position at 4 a.m. sobbing and thinking my life would never be good? This “dark night of my soul”,...
What I Missed While Trying to Handle Everything Myself
I Thought I Had It Covered For a long time, I believed I could figure things out on my own. That wasn’t something I questioned. It just felt like how things were supposed to work. If something was off, I would think it through, analyze it, and try to understand where...
I Thought I Was Too Overwhelmed to Volunteer
It Felt Like I Was Already Doing Enough For a while, I told myself I was already doing enough. Life felt heavy. Recovery felt like work and just getting to meetings some weeks took more effort than I wanted to admit. So when the topic of service came up, I’d...
Crocheting a Recovery
Crochet is very simple Just yarn and one hook Videos teach the basic stitches Recovery is very simple, too Just me and meetings Literature and fellow travelers to help me There are no knots in crochet My fingers and the hook pull the yarn around and through and...
The Inner Child Wasn’t What I Thought
It Sounded Abstract to Me I didn’t understand what people meant by “inner child.” I’d hear it in meetings, in readings, in conversations after – your inner child needs this, or that’s your inner child reacting. To me, it sounded vague and maybe even a little forced. I...
I Used to Think It Was Just a Basket
When I first started coming to ACA meetings, I didn’t pay much attention to the basket. It was just part of the closing – something mentioned near the end, along with a few announcements. Whether I was sitting in a room or logging into a meeting online, it felt like...
I Almost Decided ACA Wasn’t for Me Before I Ever Walked In
When I first heard about ACA – Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families – I made a quick decision: this probably didn’t apply to me. Alcohol hadn’t really been part of my home growing up. There wasn’t anything I would have pointed to and said, this is...