Personal Bill of Rights

[MajestyJo]

Personal Bill of Rights for Adult Children
I have a right to all those good times that I have longed for
all these years and didn’t get.

I have a right to joy in this life, right here, right now — not
just a momentary rush of euphoria but something more
substantive.

I have a right to relax and have fun in a nonalcoholic and
nondestructive way.

I have a right to actively pursue people, places, and situations
that will help me in achieving a good life.

I have the right to say no whenever I feel something is not
safe or I am not ready.

I have a right to not participate in either the active or passive
“crazy-making” behavior of parents, of siblings, and of others.

I have a right to take calculated risks and to experiment with
new strategies.

I have a right to change my tune, my strategy, and my funny
equations.

I have a right to “mess up”; to make mistakes, to “blow it”, to
disappoint myself, and to fall short of the mark.

I have a right to leave the company of people who deliberately
or inadvertently put me down, lay a guilt trip on me, manipulate
or humiliate me, including my alcoholic parent, my nonalcoholic
parent, or any other member of my family.

I have a right to put an end to conversations with people who
make me feel put down and humiliated.

I have a right to all my feelings.

I have a right to trust my feelings, my judgment, my hunches,
my intuition.

I have a right to develop myself as a whole person emotionally,
spiritually, mentally, physically, and psychologically.

I have a right to express all my feelings in a nondestructive
way and at a safe time and place.

I have a right to as much time as I need to experiment with
this new information and these new ideas and to initiate changes
in my life.

I have a right to sort out the bill of goods my parents sold me;
to take the acceptable and dump the unacceptable.

I have a right to a mentally healthy, sane way of existence,
though it will deviate in part, or all, from my parents' prescribed
philosophy of life.

I have a right to carve out my place in this world.

I have a right to follow any of the above rights, to live my life
the way I want to, and not wait until my alcoholic parent gets
well, gets happy, seeks help, or admits there is a problem.


- - Taken from 12stepforums.net

[MajestyJo]

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be
made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life;
define yourself."
- - Harvey Fierstein


“If it's never our fault, we can't take responsibility for it.
If we can't take responsibility for it, we'll always be its victim.”
- - Richard Bach


"Don't Take Anything Personally. Nothing others do is because of you.
What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own
dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others,
you won't be the victim of needless suffering."
- - Miguel Angel Ruiz

[Laura]

Same rights go to parents, spouses, relatives, and friedns of those still out there. Thanks for the reminder that I, too, can choose to be happy; regardless on whether my loved ones are sober.
Laura