Post by caressa on Jul 2, 2011 20:07:27 GMT -5
"We accept responsibility for our problems and see that we're equally responsible for our solutions."
Basic Text, p.94
Recovery is something we have to work for. Service is a good way to work for NA. I found that service helped me to be responsible, to give back what was so freely given to me.
Recovery doesn't work if I just occupy a chair and just read the words or listen to the shares of others. I have to take what I learn and apply it to my own life. I needed to learn to walk my talk.
It isn't something our sponsor can do for us. Our sponsor can share his/her experience, strength, and hope. Yet it is up to me to listen to him/her, and see how it applies to my life. I have had sponsors who have not had the same set of values as I had. There idea of giving and mine were different. Not that either was right or wrong, it was what was right for that person.
Because I was working, because most of my time was not in a long-term relationship, I had time to devote to service. It gave me a purpose for being. If I wasn't able to be there for others, and by doing so, learned to be there for myself, because you can't give away what you don't have, I would have no purpose.
It is why I did so many meetings in early recovery and for several years afterward. I was on the H & I chairman and TA service as well. Why I went to detox, jails, treatment centers, outreach and community programs. As my disability increased, I was gifted a computer so that I could continue to do service online when I couldn't get out.
It isn't about not drinking and drugging these days, the desire to use left a long time ago. It is about maintaining my emotional sobriety, which can trigger those old thoughts. Sometimes I think, gee it would be nice to have a day, even an hour some days, without pain. It is up to me to take responsibility for my thoughts and actions.
I am responsible for taking those feeling to my HP, dealing with them instead of stuffing them and allowing them to fester and grow.
When all else fails, the Serenity Prayer is always there.
Basic Text, p.94
Recovery is something we have to work for. Service is a good way to work for NA. I found that service helped me to be responsible, to give back what was so freely given to me.
Recovery doesn't work if I just occupy a chair and just read the words or listen to the shares of others. I have to take what I learn and apply it to my own life. I needed to learn to walk my talk.
It isn't something our sponsor can do for us. Our sponsor can share his/her experience, strength, and hope. Yet it is up to me to listen to him/her, and see how it applies to my life. I have had sponsors who have not had the same set of values as I had. There idea of giving and mine were different. Not that either was right or wrong, it was what was right for that person.
Because I was working, because most of my time was not in a long-term relationship, I had time to devote to service. It gave me a purpose for being. If I wasn't able to be there for others, and by doing so, learned to be there for myself, because you can't give away what you don't have, I would have no purpose.
It is why I did so many meetings in early recovery and for several years afterward. I was on the H & I chairman and TA service as well. Why I went to detox, jails, treatment centers, outreach and community programs. As my disability increased, I was gifted a computer so that I could continue to do service online when I couldn't get out.
It isn't about not drinking and drugging these days, the desire to use left a long time ago. It is about maintaining my emotional sobriety, which can trigger those old thoughts. Sometimes I think, gee it would be nice to have a day, even an hour some days, without pain. It is up to me to take responsibility for my thoughts and actions.
I am responsible for taking those feeling to my HP, dealing with them instead of stuffing them and allowing them to fester and grow.
When all else fails, the Serenity Prayer is always there.
. I will be back looking for Lin and others.