POWER AND POWERLESSNESS

I heard a fellow at a meeting years ago say that he was "powerless over everything." I supposed at the time he was overstating things attempting to express his powerlessness over the disease of addiction. But then he went on. He was powerless to change himself, powerless to resist that next drink, his sobriety due exclusively to the intervention of his higher power. He didn't last long.

Unless you go the route of the white-knuckle wonders, getting and staying clean is a team effort: Other recovering addicts, your sponsor, meetings, the Steps, your higher power, and YOU. If you are not on your own team, the program doesn't seem to work. If you are on your own team, that "happy, joyous and free" recovery is assured.

So what does being on your own team mean? Every member of a team has a function. Your function on your team is to go to any lengths to get and stay clean and do the work necessary to arrest the disease and build a new life. It involves numerous powers that you do possess:

You have the power to walk into that first meeting.

You have the power to ask for help.

You have the power to not use for twenty-four hours.

You have the power to ask someone to be your sponsor.

You have the power to follow the suggestions of your sponsor.

You have the power to read the program literature.

You have the power to work the Steps with your sponsor.

You have the power to not pick up that first drink or drug.

You have the power to choose your own higher power.

You have the power to seek help in your recovery from your higher power.

There are two attitudes when attending those first few meetings. The first attitude is: "How are you going to fix me?" The second attitude is: "What do I need to do to recover?" Guess which one leads to a life in recovery.