Funny how a subject, which seems to have no bearing on staying sober can actually bring the basics of this program front and center. And, of course, that has to do with those members, who were responding. Great reminder of the basics of this program.
Job or no job, wife or no wife…It’s in the BB, to remind us that our staying sober always comes first. And that was the question the member brought up today. Their only focus was on the fear that maybe they were going to lose their job and they wanted to know what others thought they could do about that.
My reaction was the same as the other members in the room. In fact I was made to think about what it was that worked for me in this program. Surrendering to the fact that I was powerless over alcohol and then surrendering to the Second Step and then the rest of the Steps. Without sobriety I have nothing. Only misery and the threat of death. That’s what that next drink means for someone like me.
The emotion of fear and anxiety are mental traps for alcoholics like myself. It enlarges my ego and blinds me to the truth. It’s part of that Tenth Step. Whenever I’m disturbed there’s something wrong with me. I had to learn through my sponsor and others how to get out of my own way. I had to learn to grow up emotionally. I never knew what it meant to be an adult. I was still a child, when I came into this program at forty-two. And it was my sponsor and those old timers, with the help of these Steps, who got me on the path to recovery and adulthood. But mainly sobriety.
They did that by introducing me to a spiritual way of life, which was the answer I needed, if I was going to survive and live life. And it worked. If I would stop thinking about me and what I wanted and got out of my way and found what it was I needed. Like the woman in the story Freedom From Bondage said, I don’t always get what I want, but I do get what I need. And when I get what I need I find it’s what I wanted all along. That’s what I found.
I think we all knew exactly where that person was today. Knowing that we all went back to the basics of this program. To get back to what we all need. That the key to our lives is what this program is about. To practice these principles in all of our affairs. Not to let our emotions to run our lives. Like my sponsor said to me. Think with your head and not your heart.
Another way of looking at this is the statement that the spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it. I can only hope that they heard this message. I know from my own personal experience, having gone through the same things they’re going through, what the answer was for me. And it’s worked for me.