OLD AND NEW AGAIN

[LIVN4NOW]

Hi everybody!! I'm nearly 4 months sober now...but have been around the program for around 5 years...((slow learner!!))
I went to treatment this time....and it was a Godsend!! What I can't figure out is that I and this other guy I know are about the only two out of 15 people from my city that are still sober...It's so frustrating...seeing all that people went through..and then they get out...and go out....I guess I can't expect it to be as life-changing for them as it was for me..It sure took me long enough to WANT to live sober...I just don't know what to say to the folks that have gone out...but don't want to discuss it..((they call and just want to chit chat)) I want to be there for them...but how??

[angussdundee]

Livn4now,
Who really knows why one or two drunks sobers up and another 15 don't?
Personally, I have gradually come to believe that it comes about when we genuinely seek the help of a loving God, and it is only through his grace that we are saved from the hell of our alcoholism.

One thing is for sure. You will certainly start feeling better about yourself and the 'nearly 4 months' progress that you've already made when you start reaching out to help somebody.
We say in AA that "you have to give it away to get it", but be careful that you don't overstretch yourself. We also say in AA that "you can't give away what you haven't got yet".
So get a sponsor, attend a home group and get involved at group level, then your new AA friends with more experience that you have got will help you into a 12 step role when the time is right for you and the newcomer.
I think it's not as easy as it once was to get hold of a drunk to help sober up these days. I've sat with a good few drunks in their bedrooms while they were detoxing, but now a lot of drunks go through formal treatment units just like you did.
In the meantime, listen out at the meetings for a newcomer who is struggling to come to terms with his sobriety and talk to them. A little human kindness goes a long, long way with tender, sensitive new recruits and it'll do you the world of good. Just be aware of your own capabilities and don't overreach.

Congratulations on your 'nearly 4 months sober now'.

Anguss.

[BOBBY]

Congratulations on those four months .. wowww I can remember when I had my four months , gee I was crazy as a bedbug , thank God I hung onto my sponsors shirt tail :)

[samf]

Hi, livn4now, and welcome!

I think it's a miracle, when one of us gets sober.

Anguss said things about the same as I would have, but way more eloquently.

Hope you build a good base for yourself...meetings...home group...sober, recovering people...a sponsor...and that you don't over reach yourself. Sometimes it can be difficult trying to be there for someone else, when newly sober, especially.

Love,

Sam