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bluidkiti · 09-02-2013, 10:36 AM

From the Book

If You Want What We Have:
Sponsorship Meditations
By Joan Larkin

©1998 Joan Larkin

---- 2 ----
We know the truth, not only by the reason, but by the heart.
Blaise Pascla

Newcomer
I’m not sure I qualify to be in this program. I wasn’t that bad – I hear stories that are so much worse than mine.

Sponsor
There’s a joke about a group of friends standing at their drinking buddy’s graveside with his widow, all of them shaking their heads and saying, “I don’t understand it – he wasn’t that bad.”

Who qualifies for a Twelve Step program? The answer doesn’t lie simple in the quantities of a substance consumed or in the frequency of an unwanted behavior. More telling is whether or not we have a choice. It’s useful to make a list of times we remember using in spite of intention not to and a list of times when using took us places we never meant to go, made us do things we never meant to do. Perhaps we’ll recall many such situations, perhaps only a few. The number is less important that our willingness to look back at our memories, and the feelings accompanying them, without censoring ourselves. Something inside us brought us here; it’s up to each of us to take an honest look at what that was.

Today, I look honestly at times when I have been powerless over this addiction. I acknowledge the ways it has made my life unmanageable.

09-02-2013, 10:36 AM	#2
bluidkiti Administrator Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 70,579	From the Book If You Want What We Have: Sponsorship Meditations By Joan Larkin ©1998 Joan Larkin ---- 2 ---- We know the truth, not only by the reason, but by the heart. Blaise Pascla Newcomer I’m not sure I qualify to be in this program. I wasn’t that bad – I hear stories that are so much worse than mine. Sponsor There’s a joke about a group of friends standing at their drinking buddy’s graveside with his widow, all of them shaking their heads and saying, “I don’t understand it – he wasn’t that bad.” Who qualifies for a Twelve Step program? The answer doesn’t lie simple in the quantities of a substance consumed or in the frequency of an unwanted behavior. More telling is whether or not we have a choice. It’s useful to make a list of times we remember using in spite of intention not to and a list of times when using took us places we never meant to go, made us do things we never meant to do. Perhaps we’ll recall many such situations, perhaps only a few. The number is less important that our willingness to look back at our memories, and the feelings accompanying them, without censoring ourselves. Something inside us brought us here; it’s up to each of us to take an honest look at what that was. Today, I look honestly at times when I have been powerless over this addiction. I acknowledge the ways it has made my life unmanageable. __________________ "No matter what you have done up to this moment, you get 24 brand-new hours to spend every single day." --Brian Tracy AA gives us an opportunity to recreate ourselves, with God's help, one day at a time. --Rufus K. When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. --Franklin D. Roosevelt We stay sober and clean together - one day at a time! God says that each of us is worth loving.