My mother has recently been diagnosed with the early stages of dementia and, needless to say, this is causing me concern and I’m losing sleep as a result. I’ve tried to get a good eight hours before I have to get up and start work by 9.00 – fortunately I work from home as a writer/digital typist for the real estate industry so I don’t HAVE to be up before 8.30, but even if I go to bed at midnight and read or listen to dreamy classical music on the radio for half an hour, I still find myself tossing and turning well before the end of my eight hour sleep!

With this new year many of us have reflected on the previous year and resolved to make changes in 2012. In this process we often set our sights too high and fail with these resolutions.

Where we lose footing is by becoming caught up in everyday life and losing focus. Believe me when I say that I have experienced this, so many times I resolved to stop drinking or lose weight on Jan. 1 only to find that I’m off track soon after.

I have the key to success now, I’ve proven it to myself over the past 22 months and I now intend to implement this strategy in another area of my life.

Most people who join Alanon come to their first meeting because they want to change someone else. They have a loved one with a drinking problem or a drug problem, and they want to know how to fix them. After they have come to a few meetings they begin to understand that they only person they can change is themselves. They cannot make another person behave. They cannot make another person be responsible, loving, mature or happy. However, they can develop those personality traits in themselves.