FELLOW TRAVELERS

Jan 1, from “Strengthening My Recovery” daily reader

“Each ACA member is equal to the next and has an equal voice regardless of job status or career track.  We are all adult children who relate to one another at the level of empathy instead of the level of employment or lack of employment.”  BRB p, 528

“In the rooms of recovery we may sit next to a doctor, a priest, a janitor, a housewife, or just about any profession we can think of. But who are we really sitting next to?  We are sitting next to another adult child, with all of the fears, insecurities and trauma that can entail. In a society where our worth appears to be measured in material things or the position we hold, there are few other places besides a 12 Step meeting where we are all on equal footing, where no one of us makes decisions for the others.

In ACA we are spiritual beings going through a human experience.  We are reaching out to each other for the love and understanding that was not given to us in our family of origin. We celebrate each other’s victories and support each other in our times of sorrow.

Success in ACA is not measured with money or social status, but with inner peace and serenity. We share our experience, strength and hope with each other as we laugh together, cry together and know that we are home.

On this day I know that in this world I am not alone as long as I have my fellow travelers.”

My experience:

When I first walked into the room, I retrospectively admit that I had serious control and status issues.  I remember someone in my meeting asking me if I had a sponsor.  When I said no, they asked if I would like them to be my sponsor.  I thought, this is my lucky day.  I didn’t have to reach out and ask, he asked me.  But, after I learned what he did for a living, my status issues kicked in and I felt like he could not guide me.  I did not understand that the sponsor relationship was not about guiding, but rather walking side by side and sharing their experience.  It was about recovery not about status.  Like it is said above, it is about inner peace and serenity, not money or social status.  Once I got that, I was able to remind myself whenever we talked that he is trying to help me.  But I think it was too late, he had “other things” come up and could not sponsor me any longer.  I licked my wounds and grew from that experience so I waited and watched for someone else that exuded the recovery I thought I wanted.  This time I chose someone that was younger than me.  But it was different this time as I felt he had the recovery that I would like to emulate as he had been in the program a long time.  However, we too would soon part ways as we both were busy in our lives.  Once again I waited and watched.  All along I felt my higher power was leading me to the right time and person to guide help me through this process.  So when I finally got up the courage to ask, my current sponsor said yes and I was so relieved.  So far it has been a wonderful experience and I have grown a lot.  I thank my sponsor for taking this journey with me and I thank my Higher Power for giving me the patience and courage to reach out and ask for help.