Welcome to the Westlake Wednesday Women's 6:30pm ACA meeting. Please join me in a moment of silence followed by the Serenity Prayer.
<God/Higher Power, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference>
This is a women's meeting welcoming anyone who identifies as a woman.
Please turn off your video if you're moving around or eating. Please unmute to share and mute when finished. Would two people please volunteer to each read one of the six readings?
<two readings>
We read from the Loving Parent Guidebook where we left off. We read one to two paragraphs, then each person can share for 3-minutes. The sharing order will be based on the participant arrangement as displayed on my Zoom screen right now. If time remains, we'll do 2-minute popcorn shares. (Note to host: write down participant arrangement now as it shuffles around during the call)
Please don't interrupt or comment on each others' shares. Keep focus on yourself by saying "what's been brought up for me is..." When sharing, please focus on your experience, strength and hope.
Could someone please be our timer? Will each person sharing please let the timer know you've heard them when your time is called?
<read passage and all share>
It's now time to close. Is anyone celebrating an ACA birthday today, or recently? Are there any ACA announcements?
For anyone who wishes to stay on for fellowship after the meeting, we will do so, just like we did for in-person meetings. Would someone please read The Promises?
<promises> Please join me in closing the meeting with the ACA Serenity Prayer. All may unmute.
<God/Higher Power, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can and the wisdom to know that one is me>
ElevenLabs_2025-06-27T20_42_44_Liam_pre_sp100_s50_sb75_v3.mp3
Hello, my name is ________ and I am an adult child. Welcome to the Westlake Wednesday Women's 6:30pm meeting of Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families. This meeting is up to 75 minutes long to allow each person at least 3 minutes to share. Please join me in a moment of silence followed by the traditional Serenity Prayer. Feel free to unmute. This is a women's meeting and we practice inclusivity by welcoming anyone who identifies as a woman. If you're new to this meeting, or have changed your name, and comfortable doing so, we'd love to have you introduce yourself so that we can welcome you. If you’re new or early in your ACA journey, please also let us know so that we may welcome you. [pause] For less distraction please turn off your video if you are moving about your space, smoking, vaping or eating. As a courtesy, we unmute to share and mute again when finished. We support each other by doing our best to minimize any interruptions that might take attention from the meeting. For this reason, we try to use the Zoom chat feature mostly at the end of the meeting.
During the meeting our host will post information in the chat about today's reading and how to access the AdultChildren.org website for donations to our Westlake group. We follow the ACA 7th tradition of giving and deem ourselves to be self-supporting.
An adult child is someone who responds to adult situations with self doubt, self blame, or a sense of being wrong or inferior – all learned from stages of childhood. Without help, we unknowingly operate with ineffective thoughts and judgments as adults. The regression can be subtle, but it is there sabotaging our decisions and relationships. We meet today to share the experience we had as children growing up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional home. That experience infected us then and affects us today. By focusing on the Solution (which is to become our own loving parent), attending meetings, accepting a higher power of our understanding, and using the 12 steps, we find freedom from the effects of alcoholism and other family dysfunction. We identify with The Problem and learn to live in The Solution. As we proceed, we have six readings and they are: ~ One of the four laundry lists ~ The Problem ~ The ACA Bill of Rights ~ What ACA Recovery Looks Like (YWB – last unnumbered page before page 1) ~ Tony A's 12 Steps ~ The Solution