Bill tells us in the BB that nothing will more insure our sobriety than working with others. I think about this frequently. One of the things, which comes to mind is the lack of opportunity to go out and actively twelve step another suffering alcoholic. Often times this is preempted by the availability of rehabs today. Where once this was the norm in AA the chance to do this seems to have vanished.
It’s not that we don’t have the twelfth step available to us. Certainly we are able to meet people in the rooms now, who really are lost and in the need of help and guidance. Often times we miss these opportunities, because we don’t take the initiative or don’t see what’s right under our noses. Sometimes these people come in once and we don’t see them again. But they’re there and it’s up to us to do something about it. All we have to do is to go up and speak to the new person and welcome them and invite them in and talk to them.
My sponsor was a great example of that. He rarely let a meeting go by where he didn’t do this. Often times he would bring a lost soul into the meeting and sit them down next to another sober alcoholic and turn them over to them. I look back now and think of how many achieved sobriety from his example and his willingness to reach out to others. There were a lot of people who benefited by this.
The practice of twelve stepping has done so much for me in my life. It would be hard for me to describe the benefits which have come my way as a result.
The first is that it kept me sober during some really difficult times. Another is that it often rescued me from me. When I would find me so wrapped up in myself and edging on self will run riot, it got me out of myself and provided self forgetting in favor of thinking of someone else. There was a time, when I was reluctant to do this, thinking it as a “sacrifice of my time”. I always discovered that I was the recipient of a greater reward than I could imagine.
We were talking about gratitude and the 12th Step today. I couldn’t help but recall all the benefits I received from going out on such calls and being grateful for all those opportunities. It helped build a foundation for sobriety in my life. I’m still grateful for the chances, which come in each meeting, to carry the message to others that there is a solution to our common problem with alcohol.
Just thinking about sobriety and thanking God and the members of this fellowship.