How many times have we asked ourselves how concerned we are with the person next to us? From time to time I know that I have lost that concern only to have someone give me a boost back into being interest with others.
Years back, two sociologists did a survey of AA members around the U.S. There conclusions were interesting. They found that the majority of members were of the mind that “I’ve got mine, you get yours”. In other words service work with new alcoholics was of no interest at that time. Their findings were published in the New Yorker magazine.
I was thinking about this today, because the 12th step is the best insurance we have to shield us from that next drink.
I have heard from one on ones with some and even in meetings that people often get discouraged with working with others, mainly because those they had tried to work with either got drunk or just dropped them. Not once, but many times. But I was told by my sponsor not to get discouraged. He told me that, although the results we look for in others is important, more importantly the results we receive from this work is more important. We can stay sober.
Bill W., before the founding of AA, kept going on despite the fact he never was able to get anyone sober. Nevertheless he kept on, because he found that it kept him sober. In his story he tells us how, when confronted with an overwhelming temptation to take a drink, he made that memorable phone call, which led him to Dr. Bob. His first successful 12th step and the rest is history.
I know how important this is to me. Everyday I have to remind myself to make an attitude adjustment and renew my enthusiasm and gratitude for what AA has given to me. My mind often goes back to my first meeting so many years ago, when an old timer read from the Twenty-four Hours a Day book. The page he read from was the Jan. 6. It always comes back to me that the most important thing I have ever done was my decision to stop drinking. Could I ever afford to forget that.
Anyway, I was thinking about that this morning.