Written by: Judith Blakley

Al-Anon rescued me. I'd lost my way in life and Al-Anon was the lighthouse that guided me back to myself.

The following events happened seven years ago and it is not my desire to embarrass anyone close to me. I share my most vulnerable moments because to share them is to help others. I would not be who I am today if others had not been willing to expose themselves in order to help me.

My husband is a recovering alcoholic, he had two 'rock bottoms' and this story deals with the first one. I begin my story at the beginning of both of our recoveries. His from alcohol, mine from co-dependency.

How do you move ahead in life? Do you have a special dream or goal? Are you settling for just enough, or even less? Why are you where you are in life? Have you tried to move ahead to only lose vested interest or the will power to go on? Maybe it is time that you found yourself again, and reached just a little higher. Reaching for new dreams, and stretching your comfort zone will gradually help you to ultimately succeed. This does not guarantee that you will become the next president just by putting a picture on the refrigerator, but it does mean that you can grow, and move ahead. This long term commitment is definitely not for the faint of heart, nor those who give up when the going gets rough. Learning to deal with mistakes, disappointments, and bumps in the road are all lessons to help us be stronger for our next hurdle.

I40..at 40..

A few months ago I made a discovery. It was one I suspected, but never thought I would have the opportunity to find out..for real. My life was stale. I had stopped living, and was just..existing. In part this was due to a marriage long gone bad, but in part..it was where I lived. To tell the truth, the places I have lived have shaped my life as much as my family did. The people I came in contact with on a daily basis..I never seemed to fit in with. The towns I lived in were expensive places that required you to constantly be relying on others. It lead me into a safe..but dead end, a loveless lonely life where I had a home and my bills were paid..and I would have remained there till I died, dreaming of what it might be like to be elsewhere, had someone else not died first.