I FEEL ANXIOUS & WORRIED MOST OF THE TIME!

Feeling anxiety or stressing over your situation - living with an active drinker - is what most of us suffer.

How can I pay the bills?  What if the kids find out?  Where has our life gone? How can I cope with all of this?

I felt this way - and SAD and ANGRY too - but when I got to go regularly to Al-Anon Meetings, I began to learn some useful things about living with an alcohol abuser.  For instance:

• LEARNING TO LIVE ONE DAY AT A TIME.
  Not to worry about tomorrow, next week, or the future. I learned to accept the situation, do what I could today to survive, and let tomorrow look after itself tomorrow.
  This is a big secret to living a less stressful, more enjoyable life for everyone.
• LEARNING TO ACCEPT THE SITUATION
  I learned to face the reality of the drinking - and that  I could do nothing to stop it. I did not cause it. Facing up and thinking about what I could do helped reduce some more anxiety.
• LEARNING WHAT I COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT
  And what I COULD NOT do anything about - I could not stop the drinking. I could not stop the awful situations that arose. But I COULD do something about looking after ME. I could not help my drinker, but I COULD HELP MYSELF.
• LEARNING TO STOP MY MIND RACING
  Our minds tend to be very active in presenting all sorts of problems to us, especially at night when we are trying to sleep.
  I learned, when I could not stop the bad thoughts racing around my head, to distract my mind in one of several ways:
  
  Repeating the SERENITY PRAYER or the LORD"S PRAYER over and over again
  Starting with letter 'A', trying to name some GOOD THING that I was thankful for
  Concentrating on my breathing - IN and OUT slowly
• LEARNING TO STAY IN THE PRESENT TIME
  "Yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is a mystery. All I have is today, this minute, I can do nothing about what happened yesterday, and I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. All I can do in live NOW, this minute, today.
  Another big secret to a serene life.

I hope something here will work for you. Because WORRY DOES NOT IMPROVE ANYTHING.

It just saps your energy. And can lead to depression.

My best thoughts are for you, who read these posts. God Bless you!