so, whatcha' waiting for?

I went out to dinner after my home group last night, and somebody made an interesting point:  too often we hear about the person who's had multiple relapses, before getting lasting sobriety.  But, we rarely hear anybody pipe up and say that it's okay to start working the steps right now.  Today.

And, I think he was right.

What my sponsor taught me, as we read through the Big Book, was that we stay clean because of a spiritual experience.  We get this from working the steps. 

Seems logical that the sooner we start, and the less we dawdle, the quicker we're going to get what we're looking for.

So, what's the big rush?  Easy:  people eventually relapse if they don't get some power in their lives from working the steps.  And, for some people, "eventually" doesn't take too damned long.

While it may be humiliating to have to come back, raise one's hand when the secretary asks for newcomers, and say "I have three days... again", that's not really the biggest worry.

People lose a lot of stuff while they're out working on their next first step story.  Jobs, homes, relationships, 401(k)s, and even their lives.  My good friend John was one of that last group.

So, whatcha' waiting for?

-M