Al-Anon daily reflection ·

Maintaining Group Focus

Having no opinion on outside issues also means not promoting our businesses in the group or making private social plans in the meeting.

Paths to Recovery, p. 222

Tradition Ten extends neutrality into the practical running of the group. Having no opinion on outside issues also means not promoting our businesses in the group or making private social plans in the meeting. The group's space and time are consecrated to the work of recovery. When we mix in external concerns—commerce, dating, personal networking—we dilute the spiritual power of the meeting.

This teaches me a spiritual boundary: Keep the main thing the main thing. My meeting is a place for healing, not self-promotion. This discipline creates a level playing field, ensuring that everyone who walks through the door is there for the same singular purpose. It costs me the temptation to leverage my recovery connections for personal gain, but it rewards me with the profound, pure safety of an unadulterated meeting.

Practice

Today, if I attend a meeting, I will consciously avoid bringing up any outside, non-program topics (e.g., job, social event, consumer review) and will limit my sharing exclusively to my experience, strength, and hope related to the Steps.

Today’s Reminder

Keep the main thing the main thing; the pure focus of the meeting is its sacred boundary.

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Written by people with lived experience of someone else’s drinking who practice the Twelve Step program of recovery. Published by Daily Growth, LLC.

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