Daily
Reflections reading December 16th
Partners In Recovery
nothing
will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other
alcoholics . . . Both you and the new man must walk day by day in the path of spiritual
progress. . . . Follow the dictates of a Higher Power and you will presently
live in a new and wonderful world, no matter what your present circumstances!
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS, pp. 89, 100
Doing
the right things for the right reasons — this is my way of controlling my
selfishness and self-centeredness. I realize that my dependency on a Higher
Power clears the way for peace of mind, happiness and sobriety. I pray each day
that I will avoid my previous actions, so that I will be helpful to others.
© Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
My
thoughts on December 16th Reading
This reading partners in recover brings a
different meaning for me because my wife and I both sponsor and co-sponsor many
people in the fellowship, professional as well as lay people, are among these
people we have been working with as there sponsor's
We have been guiding them thru our twelve
steps, helping them to build greater self-confidence and self-esteem, to look
for solutions to their problems, instead of living in the problems, because of
the confidence, trust and unconditional love we have shared in recovery
We as there sponsors believe, we know
these sponsee's as good as anyone else in their lives, we have daily contact
with them, in person or via telephone, we have helped them thru the pain, fear,
anger, loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, and confusion of their past
Thru the apprehension of the holidays and
other special events, in times of distress or agitation, thru all their
turmoil, most who follow the program remain clean and sober, accepting God's
love and hope for a prosperous future, with support in the fellowship
Having a close inner circle of friends,
who are willing to help in case of any emergency, any time day or night, the
resolve of these sponsee's to follow the principles and traditions with
consistency in their actions makes them, honest, trustworthy, and responsible
today
Its true slips are quite common in early
recovery these often are caused by a physical craving, or an allergy to
alcohol, especially when the body secretes alcohol or drugs into our blood
stream, this happens about every three to six months which can set-up the
compulsion to drink or drug
Fortunately most realize what happened
and stop drinking immediately, they soon learn that although they did slip,
they still have the months and sometimes years of experience they had when they
were sober, but they did lose their sobriety date
These people were honest and truthful
with themselves about their disease and are also honest and truthful with those
who they have learned to trust, confide and believe in, there is no way this
slip affects their ability to provide for themselves
In fact if anything it will make them
stronger in their resolve to remain sober and remain the loving kind and
carrying people they have become in recovery, the past has a profound roll in
the way we learn normal behavior patterns.
Some of the people we sponsor have been
victims of many unjust conditions since early childhood, some have never known
the real meaning of love, as most normal people see, feel, and give lovesome have
been physically, mentally, and sexually, as well as spiritually abused
They were trained to accept this guilt,
remorse, and shame to keep these secrets, as well as their own secrets, real or
imaginary deep with-in some of these sponsee's were much to terrified to assert
themselves, their fear let family and so called friends have complete control
of them
We believe there has been a very profound
change in our sponsee's personalities, their demeanor is improved which helps
carry their message of experience, strength, and hope to others in recovery, by
sharing at meetings and getting active in our fellowship
Today they are not walking alone, we who
are in recovery, are walking and sharing with them on a daily basis, helping
them to face the fears in their lives sensible, and at times courageously, most
are making positive adjustments and are learning useful skills
Having started a life long journey to
clean-up the wreckage of their past, holding back nothing, sponsee's start
sharing all the secrets of their past, in order to remain clean and sober, they
are starting to trust completely in their sponsor's and are enlarging their
spiritually
By reaching out to their Higher Power, we
try to help our sponsee's by building up their own self-awareness, self-
confidence, and self-esteem; no one can fail if they keep working on these
attributes
They are thankful to God for what He has
giving them, in their new life, trust is the largest obstacle in the way to
recovery, usually non existent in abused people, we find sponsee's becoming
more honest and willing to learn the truth about life,
It has been proven many times over anyone
can recover if they have the willingness to reach out for help, are honest
enough to seek the truth, open minded enough to change their lives, and accept
a power greater than themselves, who will restore them to sanity.
Only God knows the secrets of our hearts, we all have turned our pasts
over to His care, and He has forgiven us, we in the fellowship of recovery have
also forgiven others and are helping them to walk forward into Gods light.
God bless you Al
Please feel free to mail
suggestions or comments
