I learned that staying on course is necessary, if I am to stay sober. My second sponsor taught me that half measures just don’t work. I saw an awful lot of examples of that early on. My first sponsor suffered from this, got drunk, when I was almost two years sober and he died.
My sponsor taught me to study the BB and follow directions. He encouraged me to read the 12&12. He showed me through his example how this program worked. I’ve tried to do all of this, though mostly imperfectly through the years. Yet I’m still sober.
I learned that the First Step is the only Step I can work perfectly. But, I also learned that all the Steps have to be worked, as they’re laid out in the literature. They worked for all those people who preceded me. And they have worked for a lot of those, who have followed since. I haven’t seen a great deal of success for those who have re-edited and rewritten these Steps.
So, here I am today to recommit myself to this program, as it was originally presented to me. I want to remember that I promised my sponsor and the God of my understanding that I would do anything for victory over alcohol.
That’s from a line in the BB, just at the introduction to Steps Eight and Nine.
A friend of mine always says that we’re all here doing the same thing differently. But for me it has always been what I found in the BB. And this is what I’ve tried to do on a daily basis. Like I said, it hasn’t always been perfect or even nearly so. But it’s a process, which is never finished.
So, on this new day, I will begin again to do what is necessary to continue to grow along spiritual lines and stay sober.