A strong group

WHEN I finally decided that I was one of you and I wanted what you had, I found myself up on Pink Seven. Everyone in AA was my brother (or sister) and I embraced the greater world of recovery.  Anything to do with recovery from addiction fed my need.  I walked around in a kind of euphoria.  I didn’t discriminate and I shared whatever I heard which would make me look good. Ignorant as I was, I thought all addictions were exactly the same; so, it didn’t matter, right?  Not exactly.

Now I know that many addictions have similarities – but they manifest in different ways.  Old timers were patient with me. Gradually I learned that whatever I understood or thought I understood about my alcoholism, sharing in meetings only about my personal experience was the only thing that mattered.  I was told doing that would help me the most - and it might just help somebody else, too.  It was suggested that I needed a bit less ego and a bit more humility.

What I didn’t immediately realise was that each of us sharing our own experience, strength and hope helps to make the group healthy, strong and attractive to other members and, of course, the newcomer.  It would also ensure the ‘message’ carried by the group would be the message of AA – as found in the Big Book, our basic text.

Throughout our literature it refers to ‘this message’.  I’m asked to carry this message, not the mess.  It means that if I am truly grateful for what AA (and the Higher Power I found in AA) has given me, then it is my duty to share this sacred trust.  AA has found ‘a way out’; members have written down how to get out; time has proved that this method works – as it has for me.

I have heard it shared that the legacies of suffering and recovery are what we pass on and the ability to do this is God’s gift to us. If, as a group, we limit ourselves to the AA message, then we are all safe.  And when things go a bit awry, we hold a group conscious or group inventory to get us back on track.

For me, it is important to remember that the Big Book does not say we should only help newcomers.  If newcomers are the lifeblood of AA, then the old and middle timers are its skin and backbone.  We all need the help of our Fellows.  The best sermon is a good example.
 

HELEN S