“The First Step prepares us for a new life, which we can achieve only by letting go of what we cannot control, and by undertaking, one day at a time, the monumental task of setting our world in order through a change in our own thinking.” ~  One Day at a Time in Al-Anon

We come to our first meeting.
Maybe we had input from a trusted friend,
a counselor, who had proven she knew
what it was I needed, who had given me
a book, people who had been inside my life,
who my every thought, each excuse…
who told my story calling it theirs.
But we come…I came…and they claimed change,
said I could have it, too. Said to admit
I was powerless over food,
that my life was unmanageable.
They talked about little things,
a diet they called a food plan,
reading another book, The Twelve Steps
and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous.
And phone calls. There had to be a tough one.
And to keep coming back. Okay.
I got it. But I didn’t. It took years to comprehend
they were getting me to claim a new life,
one we can achieve only by letting go
of what we cannot control,
and by undertaking, one day at a time,
the monumental task
of setting our world in order
through a change in our own thinking!