After listening to others today, who confessed that they could not stay sober by themselves and how much they need the fellowship, I went home and read the end of A Vision For You. And it talks about this.
It states that there are those of us, who may have the BB, but still have had no contact with other members. The book states that there is always a possibility, but that our reliance, whether we have contacts or not, is on a Higher Power. That’s clear to so many of us, even when we do have meetings like I attend.
However, I do remember some, who at the beginning had no contacts at all. One of those was a old timer I knew, who got sober by himself, just reading the BB. It wasn’t until he got back to the U.S. that he met alcoholics just like himself, including Dr. Bob. And they became good friends until Bob died. And he stayed sober and attended meetings thereafter.
I also remember meeting the first woman, who got sober in Europe. How she had to find a couple of men, who were sober in London and then Paris. For a while she had nothing but the BB. But she knew she would eventually have to find others and she did.
I also had another old timer, who lived in Wash. DC, actually Md. just outside. He had contacted the New York office to find people, who were what he called “loners”, who had no contacts. He then began to write these people all over the world and communicate with them on a regular basis. He felt that was his mission. All the while he attended meetings where I did.
I know that I often think about how fortunate I am that I have always been in contact with groups and meetings no matter where I have traveled. I’m still going to meetings, because like so many others said today, I can’t stay sober by myself.
Of course the key to all of this is, as the BB stated, a dependence on a Higher Power. That’s basic for me and I know all of us. The spiritual life is so essential to all of us. That restoration to sanity, as a result of these 12 Steps, is what relieves us of the mental obsession and the desire to drink alcohol, by placing us in a position of neutrality with the drink. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. And He does. Worked for me.
I can’t help but think of how fortunate people like myself are to be where we are. In contact with others like ourselves, who want to stay sober and work this program. We are not alone.