So, let’s just get it out there from the start of this blog posting. I don’t sponsor as much as I should, probably. But, I do the best I can whenever I can. I’m not perfect, and don’t even try to be. When it comes to the program of Alcoholics Anonymous I ‘take what I need and I need what I take.’ Course that doesn’t mean I don’t sponsor…I do, but I don’t have a lot of sponsees in my life at any one give time.
That being said, I was out and about doing my thing a few months ago, and ran into some friends. Some of these guys are sober and some drink. For all intents and purposes, as far as I am concerned, the drinkers just drink from time to time. I don’t take their inventory, as I am too busy with my own. So, I was out and about and there was a new guy in the group. I’ll call him Bob. Nice enough guy with a good job, like sports and we have a few other things in common. Turns out he is sober as well. He’d had some good time under his belt, but had relapsed about 6 months prior. He’d been out there for a little while, still functioning but wanting help. When he did get back to sobriety, he attended and outpatient drug treatment facility for three months and now he was just getting back on his sober legs.
Turns out we have the same day and month sobriety. God willing he will be 1 when I turn 21. It’s not about the length of time though; it’s about what you do with your time that matters.
We became friends pretty instantly and have seen each other at meetings, on the street, and even at the gym down the street. Like I said, he is a good guy. He called me two nights ago and told me about his day. It was a bit unusual, as he hasn’t ever called me before. Although I was taken by surprise, I knew it was probably important. Turns out he was in a situation that was triggering him to use again. I told him to meet me NOW and then we’d hit a meeting and talk after.
Within twenty minutes we were talking about the trigger that keeps repeating for him. It’s the same trigger that keeps leading him to relapse. It seems he doesn’t, or at least didn’t, want to make the changes in his life to lead him to long-term sobriety. Sometimes we need to make drastic changes to our lives in order to prevent repeating the same old pattern. I call it ‘comfortably uncomfortable.’
Once we were done with the meeting and talk, he went home. He called me again the next day and asked me to be his sponsor. Apparently I have what he wants in sobriety, and he’s made the first steps to remove the people, places and things that help lead him to relapse.
Let’s see how this goes – One Day at a Time.
Recovery Rob BIO
Recovery Rob is a 48-year-old man who has more than twenty years of sobriety, whose drugs of choice at one time were alcohol and drugs, and he has worked in and around the field of addiction for more than 20 years. Having just recently launched his own website, www.askrecoveryrob.com, he hopes to reach out and continue to help others who work through their process of addiction and recovery. Recovery Rob is a professional writer who has published two novels and is currently working on his third. He has been writing and working as Pat Moore Foundation’s premiere blogger and content writer, which helps keeps Pat Moore Foundation’s addiction and recovery blog top-rated.