Member-only story
Tradition 1
It’s not for group recovery only!
“Our common welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends on unity.”
I thought I’d begin the new year with a topic that’s out of place topic, a bit challenging, and extremely helpful.
In terms of how I had been planning my blog topics (in a “flow” sense from beginner onward), writing about Tradition 1 as serving personal recovery is a bit “out there.” Al-Anon’s Traditions are usually thought of as keeping the individual group healthy. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard an Al-Anoner talk on using any of the 12 traditions for personal recovery, which makes putting this story out there a bit challenging!
But I’m weird, I’m quirky, and I like to experiment, so here we go.
Tradition 1 for group recovery
This tradition is most apt to come up in monthly group meeting, which usually takes place after one of the regular meetings. Every Al-Anon group is autonomous, so this can vary.
An example would be this: Someone voices at the business meeting that they’d like to change the topic of one meeting per week to dual-speaker (i.e., one speaker from Al-Anon and the other from AA). The topic is discussed — so everyone gets a say — and is voted on according to parliamentary…
