OKaysez

 

Monday, November 8, 2021

(37)

Made a Decision

Going to Any Lengths

Every A.A. newcomer is soon made aware of the basic ingredients for staying sober. 

We are told to read the Big Book; read the 12&12; find a sponsor to take us through the steps of recovery; get to lots of meetings, find a home group; pray and meditate to deepen the connection with a Higher Power, and to become active in service to AA. 

That's pretty much it. 

Members who do these things (while gradually adding in more of A.A.'s "suggestions" over time) tend to stay sober.  

By doing what's outlined above we can escape the ugly, distorted, vicious path of our chronic, terminal illness. 

Ours is a disease that first seeks to take away everything we hold dear, consigns us next to the bitter isolation of lingering loneliness,

 and finally, brutally, kills us. 

Keeping that in mind every day makes continuing to do the work of AA pretty much a no brainer.

 Service work for A.A. is vital to healthy recovery. It's one of the three sides of our AA triangle, equal in importance to the legacies of "recovery" and "unity". 

Caution!!!

There is real danger when we tune out these following words heard at every meeting: "It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe."

Willingness to do whatever we are told includes service. And willingness  simplifies the program. Those who study our literature and go to meetings keep on getting better.  

And those who get and stay active, and help other members when they can, also seem to become a lot happier in their own lives.

Staying willing really isn't hard. Especially when we realize it's truly easier to stay sober than it is to get sober.

But life happens. Things aren't always peachy. We're sober, but we can sometimes find ourselves becoming dissatisfied. 

That's the very moment to dig deep for the cause of our unrest. 

Sometimes it's just a twinge of guilt over not doing our fair share in the program - and that's an easy fix. 

Recovery involves some discipline and once we realize discipline isn't a dirty word, but rather a way of creating order in our lives instead of chaos, we can embrace those opportunities for service that come our way.

This applies to groups too. Tradition Four (if you don't know it, look it up) points each group in a spiritual direction and offers ways to provide service - from warmly greeting newcomers to hosting A.A. workshops.

Our own service opportunities arrive in the form of sponsoring others, chairing meetings, welcoming visitors and newcomers, providing the tea, coffee and biscuits at in house meetings, keeping track of AA anniversaries and arranging celebrations, ordering "birthday" chips, and suiting up to share our own story of recovery when asked.

Service positions include group secretary, treasurer, General Service Office representative, public information officer, and more. In this age of Zoom meetings there are tech support positions needing filling, too.

When your home group needs one of those offices filled - volunteer. 

 There's also telephone service, taking meetings into prisons or treatment centres, speaking about recovery in schools, letting your doctor know you are a resource for alcoholics in need -  the list of service opportunities is long and varied.  Find your niche and fill it.

Statistically, most still suffering alcoholics never get to an AA meeting. They never even get a chance at a sober life.

 Of those that do get to the rooms, many don't stick around. 

We who do are the fortunate ones, but our sobriety comes at a cost. 

The price is service. 

Because every service job - one way or another - involves carrying the message of AA to others and is therefore part of our ongoing step work  (specifically Step Twelve) that we do to keep ourselves spiritually fit - and sober. 

I know this will be hard to believe, but our Higher Power doesn't get and keep us sober because of any special qualities we may have. H.P. needs people to do His/Her work in the world.

 Those unwilling to step up to the job eventually get replaced by those who will. 

To keep your seat in the rooms, serve cheerfully and readily. Don't shirk any responsibility. Go out of your way to be of service.

Remember all those foxhole prayers you made when you were drinking? Those "Please, God, get me out of this mess and I'll never drink again" prayers? 

Our Higher Power did that, didn't He? 

We're sober now, aren't we? 

Come on!

We have a debt to pay.

The payoff for service work is to see others get and stay sober. It's the best of the many gifts we'll find in AA!  

Service of any kind lifts us from the doldrums to a life of purpose and joy.

Don't cop resentments toward members who don't do their share. They're the ones skating around on thin ice putting their sobriety at risk. 

Just cheerfully do what you know needs to be done, because we protect our sobriety by continuing to do-the-doing of recovery on a daily basis. 

In the process we also pile up those only treasures we get to take with us when we head off to that big meeting in the sky. 

Looks to me like that's just another one of those 

no-brainers.