Step by Step #essentialsofrec #recovery #Slips #Relapse

“We have been dealing with alcohol in its worst aspect. But we aren’t a glum lot. If newcomers could see no joy or fun in our existence, they wouldn’t want it. We absolutely insist on enjoying life. We try not to indulge in cynicism over the state of the nations, nor do we carry the world’s troubles on our shoulders …(T)hose of us who have tried to shoulder the entire burden and trouble of others find we are soon overcome by them.”

 – Alcoholics Anonymous, 3rd Edition, 1976, Ch 9, p 132.

Today, if in service work I take on the weight of others’ addictions and recovery, let me remember that the lifeline of AA is tossed to us by another person but it is we as individuals who must choose to grab it and hang on. And if I should be the 12th-Stepper who throws out the lifeline, let me not believe that it is within my control to make the other person grab it. Likewise, as the Big Book warns, let me not be tinged with cynicism or hopelessness of the state of the world because it, like the power of alcohol, is something I cannot control. Today, if the message I carry falls on deaf ears, I will not feel like a failure and, likewise, I will not bolster my ego by claiming “success” if the message is heard. And our common journey continues. 

Step by step. – Chris M., 2014

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