A couple of conversations led me back to something I was told by my sponsor a long time ago. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Take what you’re doing seriously, but not yourself.
A good reminder. Often I begin my day by looking in the mirror at myself, crossing my eyes and sticking my tongue out at my image and telling myself what a klutz I am. That makes me laugh at myself and leaves me with a smile on my face.
But, when it comes to putting my program into action, that’s when I need to remember that staying sober is my primary purpose. I take that very seriously.
It’s kind of like, when I recently spoke at our major convention up here. I hoped it would be taken seriously, especially by those, who were having difficulties in putting this program into their lives. But after wards, when people came up to me and told me how much they loved my talk, I frequently stuck my finger in my mouth, as if to make myself throw up. I think many of them got the message. The program was serious, but not to put me on a pedestal.
I kind of got the same message from something I was reading in the book Spiritual Awakenings from the Grapevine. A woman, who was writing her thoughts and experiences, said how much trouble she was having from the Second Step. I could understand her thinking. She was really saying that she was trying to “figure it out”. That was until her sponsor opened her mind to the idea that all she had to do was be honest, have an open mind, and be willing to work this program and the rest would follow. And it did. All any of us have to do is to get out of our own way.
Our conversations yesterday and today were about us, who are moving on in life, run across all kinds of aches and pains. We talked about learning to laugh at them and get on with what’s really important. Staying sober.