I Needed a Sponsor

In my personal experience, looking back on when I thought "I don't need a sponsor," I smile inside and remember these words... "It's my best thinking that got me here." Eeek! That's a sobering thought.

After a few months in the program I came to realize that I needed a sponsor because I needed to have another perspective outside my own. Alone, I could only see the world with my eyes, through the filter of my experiences.

But my reality wasn't and isn't the whole reality – and by limiting myself to myself, I wasn't able to conceive of or explore new possibilities. With my sponsor's Experience, Strength and Hope, I was able to broaden my perspective and open up doors and look down avenues I didn't even know existed.

Loving Guidance

I equate working the Steps with getting through a maze (like that big one in "The Shining" Scary!). I can struggle through it alone and try to find my way out eventually. But with my sponsor I have someone perched high above on the foundation of her own experience, strength, and hope, able to see where I am now and where I am heading.

In her I have a friend who can see a broader picture.

And when I am struggling at a dead end, she can tell me a story about how she dealt with a similar dead end in her past, and in that story I might find the answers I need.

I still need to do my own footwork, but with a sponsor I have gentle and loving guidance when I need to get some direction outside of my own "best thinking."

Anonymous

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