Thought for today:

“It’s so inconvenient to volunteer to do service in my group. Why bother?”

Haven’t we all said this to ourselves at one time or another?  We may excuse ourselves for not showing up at a meeting when we’re tired or the weather’s bad (but still do-able).  How many times did we go out when we were tired, or in bad weather for a great sale, or to get more credit?

We may avoid taking on a Sponsee because we are already over-extended. The group may go on for months and even years with no Intergroup or World Service Conference representative.

We are already working multiple jobs ourselves. Adding one more thing to our To Do list feels like it would just drive us crazy.

But exactly the opposite is what really happens when you give service. When members take a group commitment, their time management improves. Their self-esteem improves. The fellowship improves. We all benefit.

Think about this: If no one ever did service, our own DA recovery would never have been possible in the first place. People went out of their way to get the message of DA out there.  If that didn’t happen, the DA message would never have had a messenger to get to us in the first place.

Tool 11. Service:
“We perform service at every level: personal, meeting, Intergroup, and World Service. Service is vital to our recovery. Only through service can we give to others what so generously has been given to us.”

Do I see it as my duty and my privilege to pass on the same message of DA which had been so freely given to me?

Meditation for today:

In Step Eleven we “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him”. Ask your Higher Power today if service would help you. Consider the lives of the people you know who do service. Have they been strengthened by it?  What makes us think that service wouldn’t help us too?

Affirmation for today:

I have much to offer my group, and I give freely of my time.

Prayer for today:

I pray to see how service has improved the lives of those who give it. I pray I accept the opportunity to give back to others.

Recommended Reading:

First publication by the Debtors Anonymous 12 Step Fellowship. It describes the basics of the D.A. recovery program and includes 38 success stories of D.A. members. It offers experience, strength, and hope to help other compulsive debtors and all those who want to stop incurring unsecured debt, such as credit cards, unsecured loans, personal loans, unpaid taxes, and more.

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