Can an object know it's own position within an arraylist?

Say I have a class dot and put many dots in an arraylist, can the dot-class itself somehow use the "index" of the obejct in that arraylist?

I can for sure pass on the index when creating the list, but that value wouldn't shift when any object is inserted or delete before that position.

Is there an easy way out, or do I have to "manage" the object ID's each time I manipulate the list?

Thanks. Problem with the reference is, that I use Processing on an offline-computer. Can I get a good reference for full download somewhere?

Anyway, I am not sure if I found what I need, so I will explain my task a little more with an example (It is abstract and not the actual aim, but it is simpler to illustrate.)

I have an object class called link.
I create an arraylist of these objects, basically creating a chain out of "link" objects. Now within the link-class I want to have a function which acts on the actual position of the object within the arraylist. Say the 2nd "link" in my chain gets a certain color, the 3rd another one etc.

Could I thus write a code which kind "locates" the object "self" in any arraylist? If yes, a simple exmple code would be great.