“Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs.”
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 63
On the day I turned a year sober, I was having problems with someone I was dating. I was feeling very sorry for myself that this person did not want it acknowledged in meetings that we were dating. Ha! That is what I get for trying to date in AA, especially as a newcomer!
I called a close friend of mine and cried my woes into the phone about how unfair it was. I declared that I was not going to go to a meeting to collect my coin because I was so upset. My friend told me in no uncertain terms that I would be going to that meeting. He said it very plainly: “Your sobriety is no longer about you. When you go to a meeting and take a year, you are showing a newcomer that they can do it as well. When they see someone like me take a cake, they cannot relate to 15 years, but they can relate to one year. They think it’s possible.”
Thank God for good friends in the program—people with solid and consistent sobriety that know the truth and can guide the new person. While I have learned many things from my sponsor, a woman who knows my whole story, I have also learned many other important lessons from longtimers who have walked the walk of long-term sobriety. They have figured out the key to sobriety that they continue to pass on to the next alcoholic seeking a sober life.
Today’s Prayer
God, I need to reach out to others in the program. My very life in sobriety depends on it. Help me be willing today, Father. I need this program and want to try things a new way.