"Being adult children, we have learned to endure colossal amounts of abuse and aloneness that only we understand." BRB p. 68

As adult children, we often forget that isolating is as natural to us as breathing. We may not even realize that we are doing it. Our first reaction to pain is usually to hold it inward, waiting until we are in agony before we tell someone else or reach out for help.

The tools of the ACA program help us to come out of our isolation and begin to form new habits. When something scares or upsets us, we can go to a meeting or call our sponsor. When we share how we feel in meetings, we look around the room and often see heads nodding in agreement. The feelings we were too ashamed to admit become not so bad after all as we realize we are not alone. Our black-and-white thinking may even be causing us to see things as much worse than they really are.

We have felt alone for a long time, but we don't need to feel that way anymore. By working the ACA program, we can place our trust in a Higher Power and know that we will be safe in turning our pain over. We can let go of the need to isolate.

On this day I will remember that I don't have to suffer in silence. I have a program that is helping me learn to break my habit of isolation.