Thought for today:
Another DA principle we practice is gratitude. Gratitude for the progress we’ve made in our personal recovery. Gratitude for the help and inspiration we’ve found in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Tools of DA. And, especially, gratitude for being able to give back as a sponsor.
As a sponsor we share with someone else what we were like before DA, what happened to change us, and what our solvent life is like today. We share the Steps, the Tools and slogans.
Being a sponsor means we give of our time, and of ourselves. We take phone calls when a person needs to sort out how to deal with an angry creditor. We may occasionally need to “talk them down” from extreme emotional turmoil or rash decisions and help offer clarity.
We don’t give advice; we share our experience, strength and hope, grateful for the opportunity to give back to someone else. After all, we were once there, too, and we found a better way, so why not share it?
Do I make myself available to be a sponsor, to help other members in need?
Meditation for Today:
It is wonderful to see a newcomer grow in recovery. If we are afraid we have nothing to offer, we can simply realize that as long as a person “has the capacity to be honest”, there is literally nothing we could do to stop their recovery. We become a sounding board, absorbing much more than we give back.
Affirmation for Today:
As I observe myself giving to others, my self-esteem improves and my recovery starts to glow, courtesy of my Higher Power.
Prayer for Today:
If I am ever afraid I won’t have the “right words” to help someone, help me get back to the present moment, forget my regrets of the past and my fears of the future. Help me get back to sharing my experience, strength and hope. As long as I honestly express my gratitude, I am bound to be of help – at least to myself!
Further Reading:
Have no bandwidth to even consider giving of yourself as a sponsor? Think you have nothing to offer? Sometimes our possessions can become a burden that keeps us from finding “plenty of time, money and love”.
If you have overspent in the past, here is an opportunity to rid yourself of some actual baggage (not just the emotional/mental kind). Check out these terrific books about decluttering your home.
Simplifying our personal space can dramatically re-energize our lives with enthusiasm, and can offer us financial benefits when we sell items, donate them to a tax deductible non-profit, or trade them in online shares. Read the overviews of these books and see how you can become emotionally lighter after having given away, let go, and freed up our physical world.
The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide: How to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify Your Life
Miss Minimalist: Inspiration to Downsize, Declutter, and Simplify
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
(By clicking the book links found on this site you will be brought to the Amazon.com website. If you choose to make a purchase there, Amazon will give us a commission. Using these book links in no way increases your cost of purchase. It helps us defray the costs of running this website.)
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