Last Friday, I had two service calls. First, a friend texted me that he'd fallen off the wagon. While I was getting ready, another friend called to ask if I'd fill in for him as secretary of a meeting at a treatment center.
On my way to the twelfth-step call, I decided I'd call in some backup. Searching through my phone, I ran across the name of a guy who'd been the secretary of a meeting I go to. He had a bunch of experience with finding housing for guys. Perfect. Because, frankly, I was intimidated by the thought of going. It's been years since I'd done this.
Then, I called my sponsor. He's a substance-abuse counselor, and works with new people all the time.
That day, I was really happy to have my friend with me, and the advice of my sponsor. I'd had no real plan, other than to pick up my friend who'd texted me, and take him to a meeting. Which is pretty much what we ended up doing.
The next day, someone said something very profound at the meeting. He said that when we quit saying, "I'm going to do this," and start asking, "what do I do", is when we start having a chance.
As soon as I heard that, I knew it was something to hang on to. That one sentence sums up what I've seen for the last two decades.
Then, after some reflection, I felt better, and quit being so hard on myself about being nervous to go on a twelfth-step call. I figured it was better than being cocky.
Now, I just hope my next service call doesn't come during prime motorcycle riding weather...
-M
On my way to the twelfth-step call, I decided I'd call in some backup. Searching through my phone, I ran across the name of a guy who'd been the secretary of a meeting I go to. He had a bunch of experience with finding housing for guys. Perfect. Because, frankly, I was intimidated by the thought of going. It's been years since I'd done this.
Then, I called my sponsor. He's a substance-abuse counselor, and works with new people all the time.
That day, I was really happy to have my friend with me, and the advice of my sponsor. I'd had no real plan, other than to pick up my friend who'd texted me, and take him to a meeting. Which is pretty much what we ended up doing.
The next day, someone said something very profound at the meeting. He said that when we quit saying, "I'm going to do this," and start asking, "what do I do", is when we start having a chance.
As soon as I heard that, I knew it was something to hang on to. That one sentence sums up what I've seen for the last two decades.
Then, after some reflection, I felt better, and quit being so hard on myself about being nervous to go on a twelfth-step call. I figured it was better than being cocky.
Now, I just hope my next service call doesn't come during prime motorcycle riding weather...
-M
