Had a friend of mine ask me a question about hope and faith. He said he could see how hope feeds faith, but what feeds hope?
That question was answered for me a long time ago. I had found hope in a flash, when someone told me that there was a place where men and women met and stayed sober together and that he would take me there, if I wanted to go. Then, when I got there, I found the AA program and the people in it. I listened to what they had to say and once again I got hope. And, in time it led to faith. The result was that faith grew. So did hope.
It’s not enough to simply get hope. Like my friend said, what feeds hope? Simple but not easy. It’s perseverance. Not quitting and hanging in despite seeming roadblocks. That was the way it was for me. I got hope, renewed hope, and then had to learn to hang in and not quit. I was introduced to sobriety (hope), had that hope renewed (first meeting), but then had to do what I was told, if I wanted what I had hoped for. Had to go to meetings and face the difficulties many of us had to face in the beginning. That’s where perseverance came in.
Eventually I began to believe. Faith in me grew, fed by the hope I had. That hope was fulfilled. It’s the process I was told about early on. First comes perseverance, then hope, then faith, then love. In that order. And I was told that, if I drop one of these, all of them will collapse. I have to maintain all four each day. One day at a time.
How do I know? Experience. It is one thing to be told about something and another to live it. I have been living this way, despite the obstacles, which come up, mainly myself and my reaction to what goes on in my life. But I always go back to what I was told. Never quit. Persevere. Hang in and keep on keeping on.
Have to learn to do that despite discouragement. Learn to never give up hope. Continue to believe. To have the faith in my Higher Power and the people and this program. And to act in gratitude. In other words to reach out to others in an act of love, despite what I might think or feel. In other words to carry the message I was given to another alcoholic. To learn to listen and encourage others. To understand, as I was understood. And to be grateful for all I have been given, as a result of coming here.
After my friend asked me, I had to sit down and think about this. For me it is all about sobriety, for which I am definitely grateful.