| "Today I'll use the slogan, 'How important is it?' It will help me think things through before I act and it will give me a better picture of just what is important in my life." | Alateen-A Day at a Time | | |
| “When we turn to God, we find He has been facing us all the time.” | As We Understood, p. 200 | | |
| The slogan "But For The Grace Of God" helps to remind us to be compassionate with others, including the alcoholics in our lives. This slogan can help us avoid impatience, criticism, resentment, and vengefulness, which does harm to ourselves as well as others. | | | |
| The slogan "First Things First" helps us to set reasonable priorities and to keep a realistic perspective. This slogan helps us to make choices we are comfortable with, and to act with balance rather than react to crises. | | | |
| The slogan, "Keep It Simple" helps to remind us that simple solutions are often the most effective ones. This slogan can help us look at what really is happening rather than what we imagine may happen, and to take a reasonable, step by step approach rather than act out of fear or panic. | | | |
| The slogan, "Easy Does It" helps us remember that trying to "force solutions" often does not work. We may not be able to solve every problem in the time frame we wish to solve it in. Some problems may not be for us to solve. Sometimes a gentler, more patient approach is more effective and less frustrating. | | | |
| The slogan, "Let It Begin With Me" helps us to keep the focus on and be responsible for our own actions and behaviors. This slogan helps us to take action to change the things we can change and to take the responsibility to get our own needs met, rather than waiting for others to change or to meet our needs for us. | | | |
| "The slogan, "Just For Today" tells us that things are more manageable when we deal with and live in the present. Things that seem way too difficult to manage long term may seem more manageable if we deal with them just for today. We can move forward in small steps rather than be overwhelmed by trying to change everything at one time." | Al-Anon pamphlet, Just For Today. | | |
| "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." | | | |
| “The past, the present, and the future are really one: they are today.” | | | |
| "The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none." | | | |
| "Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." | | | |
| "The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us." | | | |
| "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." | | | |
| "By facing my fear, I actually started feeling calm." | Courage To Be Me p.51 | | |
| "Each of us rakes part in weaving the protective mantle of anonymity which covers our whole society and under which we may grow and work in unity." | Alanon Family Groups, Classic Edition, p.134 | | |
| "Every human being has his own individual drives and motivations, beyond my understanding and control." | One Day At A Time in Al-Anon, p.217 | | |
| "God has a lot of patience with us as we stumble around trying to become better people." | Alateen-A Day A Time, p.23 | | |
| "It takes only one person to start something, but many others to carry it out." | Lois W., Co-Founder of Al-Anon | | |
| "I had a shoe in my hand, and before I knew what was happening I had thrown it at him and said, "Damn Your Old Meetings!" | Lois Remembers, p. 98 | | |
| "God Loves Me As I Am." | Having Had A Spiritual Awakening, p. 100 | | |
| "Many of us would not have voluntarily walked through the doors of Al-Anon if we were not in some sort of crisis or pain that forced us to seek help." | Paths To Recovery, p.7 | | |
| "Spirituality is strength, not weakness." | From Survival to Recovery, p.236 | | |
| “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.” | Just for Today Bookmark | | |
| “Practicing Tradition Two takes time and patience. Like our recovery, it will move slowly. This Tradition helps me to keep my priorities in order - God, self, family, others. It also reminds me that each person in my life has a God and I am not it”. | Paths to Recovery, p. 152 | | |
| “I must go on day after day trying to face myself as I am, and to correct whatever is keeping me from growing me into the person I want to be.”\r\n | Blueprint For Progress, p. 90 | | |
| “Sometimes it is good to look back - not to stare - just to learn.” | Living with Sobriety - Another Beginning, p 5 | | |
| “...recovery expands when we give it away. Many of us have answered a call from a newcomer only to find ourselves saying just what we needed to hear, but for the moment had forgotten to practice.“ | Paths to Recovery p 204 | | |
| “When I think myself into a troubled state, I will remember this: Don’t look around, look up.” | Hope for Today p 306 | | |
| "We have the opportunity to grow and achieve personal progress when we strive for unity in situations involving family, friends, co-workers, and various other relationships. Tradition One can be a stepping-stone to a greater understanding of the value of working together for the greater good of everyone." | Reaching for Personal Freedom (P-92), page 68 | | |
| "Tradition Two shows us how to practice the first three Steps as a group. We admit our own limitations, come to trust a Higher Power to guide us, and then turn the group conscience over to that Power." | Paths to Recovery—Al Anon's Steps, Traditions, and Concepts (B-24), page 145 | | |
| "There is something wonderfully reassuring about our Third Tradition. Although it is directed to the group, between the lines it tells me to focus my mind on the Al Anon program. This fellowship can change my life for the better as long as I refuse to allow distractions to confuse me." | Al Anon’s Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions (B-8), page 99 | | |
| "On a personal level, Tradition Four reminds us that although we have a right to do what we believe is best for us, so do those around us. We need to be considerate of others and not infringe upon their freedom. With this understanding comes not only independence, but also mutual respect and dignity."\r\n | How Al Anon Works for Friends and Families of Alcoholics (B-32), page 112 | | |
| "Tradition Five tells me why I'm here. I don't have time to talk about anyone else or let myself get sidetracked by other things. I need to concentrate on helping myself and be ready to share with other people. When I do that, I'll help to keep our group going so it can help everyone who comes, including me." | Alateen—a day at a time (B-10), page 323 | | |
| "I've learned to apply Tradition Six to my life outside of Al Anon as well. I'm reminded that, in recovery, I feel that all of my existence has a primary spiritual aim. When I succeed in simplifying my life to include fewer problems of money, property, and prestige, I encourage myself to focus more clearly on my spiritual experience." | When I Got Busy, I Got Better (P-78), page 46 | | |
| "The Seventh Tradition has been a valuable tool that saved my life and my sanity. I discovered that being “self-supporting,” as this Tradition instructs, does not mean doing it all by myself. It means doing as much as I can healthily do and asking for help with the rest. It also means letting others help me." | Opening Our Hearts, Transforming Our Losses (B-29), page 158 | | |
| "The wisdom of Tradition Eight reminds me to never compromise the principles of Al Anon for the sole satisfaction of my ego. Many years in the program don’t give me any expertise in the field of recovery. Simplicity and humility are my best options." | Reaching for Personal Freedom (P-92), page 99 | | |
| "If our relationships follow Tradition Nine as our groups do, then they “ought never be organized.” While this doesn’t mean they should be disorganized, it suggests simplicity. We let go of rigidity and regulation, keeping in mind that equality is sustained by order, balance, and a division of responsibilities." | Discovering Choices (B-30), page 262-3 | | |
| "Tradition Ten specifically reminds us that, no matter what the cause, Al Anon’s name “ought never be drawn into public controversy.” The reason is simple: outside issues can divert us from our primary spiritual aim. Members are always free to act as individuals in favor of their own personal causes, as long as they keep Al Anon’s name out of it" | Paths to Recovery—Al Anon's Steps, Traditions, and Concepts (B-24), page 220 | | |
| "When I want my home life to change, sometimes I have to take the lead. I can do that with the help of the Eleventh Tradition. Instead of harping on how things could be better, I can "attract" my family to a new way of life by working the program in my life today." | Alateen—a day at a time (B-10), page 326 | | |
| "For group problems, as well as for our individual ones, we use that helpful phrase in the Twelfth Tradition which ends: “ever reminding us to place principles above personalities" | One Day at a Time in Al-Anon (B-6), page 362 | | |
| "Today Al Anon is teaching me the real meaning of love. My fellow members gave me hope. Then they taught me what it is to love without a price tag. They loved me just as I was, and their only interest seemed to be that I grow to love and accept myself. As I did, I became able to love others." | Blueprint for Progress (P-5), page 28 | | |
| "When we finally surrendered, we realized that we were only giving up our futile struggle against an incurable disease. Then we were free to focus on what we could do something about, rather than trying to change what we couldn’t." | How Al Anon Works for Friends and Families of Alcoholics (B-32), page 17 | | |
| "Many newcomers to Al-Anon feel they are different from everyone else, that no one has gone through exactly the same things. . . . However, once we've been welcomed into the group, we start to realize the circle has already widened to include us too." | Al-Anon Is for Men (P-1), page 3 | | |
| "Faith has been likened to being in a dark tunnel and seeing no glimmer of light, but still crawling forward as if we did. Though our circumstances may seem dark indeed, when we turn to a Higher Power rather than to our own stubborn wills, we have already begun to move toward the light." | In All Our Affairs: Making Crises Work for You (B-15), page 106 | | |
| "We discover through our relationship with our Sponsor that it is possible to encourage, to be patient, to listen, to share, to accept, and to begin again. Often, a Sponsor is the first person to give us unconditional love. This is a gift, and it is contagious." | Sponsorship, What It’s All About (P-31), page 11 | | |
| "Learning to detach from other people with love allows us to place a healthy emotional distance between ourselves and our loved ones without abandoning them. In the simplest terms, we find out where we leave off and others begin." | From Survival to Recovery: Growing Up in an Alcoholic Home (B-21), page 144 | | |
| "The most important fact I came to understand was that Al Anon offers a program for me, a place where I can concentrate on self-improvement. I focus attention inward, on my own growth and recovery. I pay heed to my behavior and attitudes. I change my thoughts." | To Parents of Alcoholics (P-16), page 10 | | |
| "Today I believe that a Power greater than ourselves works through each of us. I see that happen at meetings, through phone calls, e-mails, on-line meetings, and in every group conscience ever held. I’ve seen amazing things happen both to and through Al Anon Family Groups, and today I trust that if this process works for the fellowship as a whole, then it can work within my life too." | Many Voices, One Journey (B-31), page 391 | | |
| Just For Today,\r\nI will try to live through this day only and not tackle all my problems at once. I can do something for 12 hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime. | Al-Anon Family Groups | | |
| It would have been easier to simply continue feeling frustrated and resentful over my disappointment with the alcoholic, but it wouldn’t have helped me to live a happier or more satisfying life. | How Al-Anon works | self honesty | |
| With or without fear, as I sought out my hidden beliefs and brought them into the light, I found that sometimes I was wrong but not always. Sometimes I knew truths about myself but I lacked the confidence to stand by them. | Paths to recovery, p47 | | |
| “The Steps show me how to love myself, the Traditions show me how to love others, and the Concepts show me how to love the world that I live in.” | Paths to Recovery | | Marie M. |
| “We may wonder how we are going to get through all the stages and phases, the levels of growth and recovery . . . Knowing we are not alone often quiets our fears and helps us gain perspective.” | Courage To Change, September 21 | | |
| The will of God will never take me where the grace of God will not protect me. | How Al-Anon Works, p. 176 | | |
“In addition to offering healing for a hurt spirit, the fellowship offers empathy and choice.””
| As We Understood, p.29 | | Marie M. |
