As a Newcomer. . .

. . I wondered what it took for people to go out. Here is the answer.

Twelve Steps of a Relapse
1. I decided I could handle any emotional problems if other people would just quit trying to run my life.
2. I firmly believe that there is no greater power than myself and anyone who says differently is insane.
3. I made a decision to remove my will and my life from God, who didn't understand me anyway.
4. I made a searching and thorough moral inventory of everyone I know, so they couldn't fool me and take advantage of my good nature.
5. I sought these people out and tried to get them to admit to me, by God, the exact nature of their wrongs.
6. I became willing to help these people get rid of their defects of character.
7. I was humble enough to ask these people to remove their shortcomings.
8. I kept a list of all the people who had harmed me, and waited patiently for a chance to get even.
9. I got even with these people whenever possible except when to do so would get me into trouble.
10. I continue to take everyone's inventory and when they are wrong, which is most of the time, I promptly make them admit it.
11. Sought through the concentration of my willpower to get God, who didn't understand me anyhow, to see that my desires were best, and He ought to give me the power to carry them out.
12. Having maintained my emotional problems with these steps, I can thoroughly recommend them to others who don't want to lose their hard-earned status, but wish to be left alone to practice neurosis in everything they do for the rest of their days.

Program of Reminder

Sometimes we learn things in very unexpected places. For example, what a surprise that it was while attending church that I asked myself, why are these people who believe in God, and are trying to lead better lives, and have heard the Bible preached to them for all their lives, why are they attending church?

Then it hit me. They keep going to church because they need reminders. It didn’t take very long for me to ask why it is that long timers or old timers still go to A.A. meetings. We all go because we need reminder.

I need the reminders of what it was like for me when I got here, and that a newcomer telling his story can take me back to those memories and feelings.

I need the reminders that slips happen to people with 10 days, 10 months, 10 years and even 20 years sobriety.

I need to be reminded that I really do have a daily reprieve based upon the maintenance of my spiritual condition.

I need to be reminded of the Steps; the First Step, the Third Step and every other Step of the Twelve Steps.

I need to be reminded of my selfishness and self-centerdness, and that the best cure for that is working with another alcoholic.

I need to be reminded with absolute certainty that I know this program works. I’ve seen it work for others, and I’ve seen it work for me.

I need to be reminded of the importance of continuing to grow in my relationship with God and my fellows, and that love and service should always be my objectives.

Finally, I need to be reminded of Rule 62 and not to take myself to damn seriously, and that as I trudge the road of happy destiny, there will indeed be ups and downs. But it sure is a heck of a lot better than when I was out there drinking. via, Unity, Dayton, OH

I was never a “joiner,” but I got deeply involved in A.A. service because you told me if I did, I would never have to drink again. You said as long as I put A.A. first in my life, everything that I put second would be first class. This has proved to be true over and over again. So I continued to put A.A. and God first, and everything I ever lost was returned many times over. . . I don’t question how this program works. I trust in God, stay involved in A.A. service, go to lots of meetings, work with others, and practice the principles of the Steps to the best of my willingness each day. I don’t know which of these keeps me sober, and I’m not about to try to find our. It’s worked for quite a few days now, so I think I’ll try it again tomorrow.
via, Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, pg. 337

I am a member of A.A. who has been blessed with many 24-hours of sobriety. I have a sponsor. He is #5 in a long line that started when I was in a Treatment Center in the middle ‘80s. He knows my “stuff.” More importantly, he knows my current “stuff” and has a pretty precise idea of where I am in the practice of my program and the steps. After all these sober years I’m still in almost daily touch with him because I need him to mentor the best in my program and to caution me when my alcoholic mind wants to lead me into easier, softer distractions in the world around me.

My sponsors have been sales people by trade, and truckers and librarians and personnel directors and insurance people – and consistently sober and serene. They have been gentle, kind, realistic, wise, blunt, encouraging, affirming, and sometimes downright abrasive. When my sponsor sees that I am breaking my serenity, it’s good to be downright abrasive. It does not feel good. But ultimately it is life and death for this alcoholic.

Every one of my sponsors themselves has had a sponsor and has worked the Steps several times with them and continue to do so. In my mind, the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is THE program of recovery, and I cannot work them well if I don’t have guidance from somebody who knows the process.

My sponsors have also taken several turns, good and bad, around my life. They can spot my “signals” because they have “been there.”

When the compulsions of my mind dictate that I should fall in love with a newly sober woman who has untreated bipolar disorder and hepatitis C, my sponsor can tell me that I might wish to turn my pleasures elsewhere, in terms of my sobriety. Downright abrasive.

When I decide that it might be a splendid idea, without a physician, to treat my seasonal depression with sleeping pills, my sponsor can point me to the better Material Medica of “one day at a time,” or a meeting – or my family physician who probably is the one I should have consulted first.

My sponsor cannot help me if I’m not honest with him. Experience has taught me that if I have a problem I’d rather not talk about, that precisely what I should be talking about to him. My best thinking got me a place in this Fellowship, and my best thinking will, even today, lead to personal misery if I let it. I am “programmed” to think like an alcoholic. I am addicted to anything that makes me feel good. And I cannot think my way into serenity alone. My sponsor’s best efforts for me will probably keep me out of the bear traps of mental anguish.

I recently found out that there is such a thing as a “Sponsor Token” available locally. It is a token that I can give to my sponsor for his help in saving my life and my sobriety. I think I will get one of those and present it to him on some pertinent occasion. A little abrasively. And very gratefully.
Anonymous via, Unity, Dayton, OH