[bluidkiti]

November 27

Quote of the Week

“Willingness is the key.”

I was one big Gordian knot of self-will when I got to the program. I bristled at your suggestions to attend meetings every day, and took offense at many of my sponsor’s directions. I was too good to sweep the floors, and had no interest in shaking people’s hands as a greeter. I was going to do the program my way, and when I did, I was drunk a short time later.

When I took Step One again, my sponsor asked me if I was willing to try things the A.A. way. I grudgingly admitted that I was. Secretly, however, I didn’t think I could do Step Three – you know, the “God” Step. As I vacillated between avoidance and outright resistance, my sponsor asked me if I was willing to believe in a Power Greater than myself. I said I was, and that was all it took. As the Big Book says, with the door to faith opened only slightly, God would help me open it more and more.

As I made my way through the Steps, I repeatedly had to call upon the tool of willingness. At Steps Six and Seven, there were some character defects I was not going to let go of. Gently, my sponsor listened to my resistance then asked me, “Are you at least willing to be willing?” I admitted I was. “Then simply pray for that.” As I prayed, I felt the door open just slightly, and as it did, my Higher Power opened it some more. Eventually, I walked through those open doors to freedom and to a new life.

Willingness was the key to my recovery, and it remains the key to my happiness today.