For me these days, this old world is a noisy place. So much going on it’s really confusing. Good thing that my sponsor warned me about watching the news. I can realy get caught up in that stuff, but my sponsor was right. I have no business there. Not if I want to stay sober or at least have sober thinking and being able to maintain peace lof mind and serenity.
For me it’s not being so much isolated as being able to realize that a lot of this is none of my business. My business is not to change the world, but to change myself, so that I can focus on what’s really important; my sobriety. My very life depends on that. My very soul depends on that.
Why I was thinking about that was because way back when AA started the founderfs and the original old timers thought that they could change the world. They were so happy with what they had found that they were sure everyone would want it and that it just might change everyone. After a few attempts, they found that they were better off sticking to just the alcoholic. So, in their new found knowledge and wisdom they discovered that unity of purpose and singleness of purpose was wherein AAs strength laid. They found that anything else would lead to the destruction of this program.
But then, another thought hit me. Way back there was a popular movement called You Can Change the World. The idea was based on the idea that if one person would light one candle in the darkness and this was passed on to others, that the whole world would be enlightened. It went the way of a lot of such movements…nowhere. But it made me think.
I know that I’m just one drunk, who has had the opportunity to get sober by the grace of God. I have learned that my primary purpose is to stay sober and to try to help another acloholic get sober. That’s all my business is, except to continue to practice these steps and these principles in mly everyday life. If I do that, I know that I can stay sober, because I’ve seen the example in my sponsor and so many others, who have done this. But think of it. Think of what a great thing has happened in this world where so many have been offered the chance to get sober and change their lives. They too have seen the examples as I have.
I was thinking it was like tossing one pebble into a pond and the result of those rings of ripples going out across the water. And I realize that the words that I may be the only copy of the Big Book that some one else gets to read means so much.. I may not be much, but I have to ask myself if I am such an example? Has the program led to such a change in me that someone else may look at me and want what I have?
Anyway, I was thinking about this today. Just checking.