Tradition Nine.

"Our groups, as such, ought never be organised, but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve."

It seems to be human nature to want to organise. We love to categorise and label; it gives many of us great satisfaction to have everything all tidily put away into neat little areas.

Al-Anon doesn't work that way. Somehow, in spite of the fact that there are no rules for attendance or conduct, no regulations by which we must abide, we manage to achieve the goal of recovery for each of us, without getting entangled in hierarchy or rank. No-one can be told what to do, or what not to do. We ask that the members respect each other, but we cannot force this. We don't expel those who don't show up at a meeting for six months.

It has always fascinated me the way meetings can be a beautifully balanced organism, but they can also always expand to enfold a new member.

We aren't responsible to our service boards or our committees, they are responsible to us. This is precisely opposite to how the rest of the world works, but the amazing result, is the miracle that is Twelve Step.