Talking to a number of people in this fellowship always brings home something I have to accept for myself. The Serenity Prayer. How many times all of us have talked to those who need to get sober and then they seem to have disappeared. And that’s the first part of that prayer. The things I cannot change.
However it makes me wake up to the fact that I’m not in charge. I know that used to be my thinking, but over time, and the result of my old sponsor and others, it brings that home my need to accept. .
I know my old ego used to take over and eventually run me into the wall. And that also taught me that I had to stop letting my old alcoholic mind run my life. I’ve seen the consequences of that in others, who went back out and drank again. My first sponsor woke me up to that craziness, when he went back out and drank again and died.
One thing I have learned over time is to be able to have a sense of humor. I know that I have to laugh at myself often. And I also get others to laugh at me. I’ll deliver a good message about this program in meetings, and often at the end say something which makes fun of myself. I know I’m not the only one who can do this.
Once again, humility is one of the primary things I have to work on. Once again, I’m not in charge. I’m here to stay sober a day at a time and need to be able to carry the message to new comers, but not seek their admiration or that in others. I have to learn to freely give to new comers, as my old sponsor and those old timers did to me. And I also have to remember that I owe a lot of thanks to my Higher Power and others in here, who all have given me so much, as a result of my following directions.