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Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums -> Al-Anon Family Group -> Al-Anon Family Group -> ODAT - December 14
Post Info TOPIC: ODAT - December 14
Freetime


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ODAT - December 14
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Sponsorship is the topic for today. We may have doubts about being a sponsor -- that we don't know enough, don't have enough time, don't want to take on someone else's troubles. 

But being a sponsor is an  adventure in personal and spiritual growth. Once we start, we might be amazed to realize how much we have learned in the program, and that we gain from the experience, perhaps even more than the person we sponsor.

Today's Reminder includes "... answers came not from books, but from mutual caring and thinking out loud with someone you felt comfortable with."

Quote: "I would strongly recommend sponsorship to anyone in Al-Anon. It opens a whole new area of mind and heart; it's a big job, and you have to grow in it."

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A few days after Thanksgiving, I got a phone call from someone I'd met in a few meetings. She was in tears, said she needed a sponsor, and everyone she had asked said they weren't ready or not available, so she was asking  me.  I could only tell her what my sponsor said to me: that it was an honor to be asked, and I would do my best to pay forward what my sponsor had done for me. 

I have never sponsored before, but I have had a couple of excellent role models in the program, so I am feeling good about this.  My sponsee is very diligent and dedicated to working the steps.  I believe she will do great. I know there are many different ways of sponsoring, but I will follow the example I received and try to grow in the experience.   

 

 



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mamalioness


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Freetime, this is a GREAT post..Thanks for sharing this.....You and sponsee will do great together...Every sponsee I had, short term for long terms was a wonderful growing experience for me too....I feel we are all teachers and students, both..Some of my best "light bulb" moments have been from newbies and folks I have guided as a sponsor...

Great luck to both of you.....

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Rose, a work in progress!!!

KEEP IT SIMPLE_EASY DOES IT_KEEP THE FOCUS ON ME
hotrod


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Good Morning Freetime Great topic!!! Sponsorship is one of the greatest gifts that i gave to myself upon entering program. Having a sponsor and being a sponsor to another, in this fellowship of equals helped me to clarify my program principles and thoughts as it allowed me to grow just as I shared my program concepts with another. It is a fantastic relationship where by each one grows as a result
Thanks for your service and Good luck with your new endevour



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Betty

THE HIGHEST FORM OF WISDOM IS KINDNESS

Talmud
Pol


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I feel like being a sponsor is the hardest job ever and kudos to those that are able to handle the job. :)

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"My Higher Power does not put any challenges before me that I am unable to face. The comfort I find in that knowledge can overcome my fears" C2C - June 11
Iamhere


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Good morning MIP. Thank you Freetime for your service, the daily and a great topic/share. I was afraid of the whole sponsorship 'thing' in the beginning - asking for one and being one - as I had significant trust issues. I was willing to do what was suggested as others really had serenity in their lives in spite of the disease coexisting. I really, really wanted that and my own 'way' had driven me to the brink of complete insanity.

I am grateful HP placed the right person in my path at the right time and removed my fear long enough to ask. I am also grateful that I followed through and used my sponsor to enhance my recovery instead of just a SINO - Sponsor In Name Only. As mentioned above, she showed me how to trust and led me in a way that made it easier to say Yes when asked to sponsor others.

This program does work when we work it. Half measures avail us nothing; we stood at the turning point....Happy Friday to one and all - make it a great day!

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Practice the PAUSE...Pause before judging.  Pause before assuming.  Pause before accusing.  Pause whenever you are about to react harshly and you will avoid doing and saying things you will later regret.  ~~~~  Lori Deschene

 

 
PosiesandPuppies


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Bless you , Freetime!


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"The wolf that thrives, is the one you feed." - Cherokee legend

"Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields... Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness."  Mary Oliver

 

 
Lyne


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Thank you FT and for all above shares. I have had a wonderful, positive experience with my sponsor. I am at a point where I will just contact her if need be, but I feel she is still my sponsor and there for me whenever I need her.

I've yet to sponsor someone, but I think it will come in time when it is supposed to. I like whichever of you said it is an honor! I will look forward to this experience, Lyne

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Lyne
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Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums -> Al-Anon Family Group -> Al-Anon Family Group -> ODAT - December 14