Keeping Your Program Fresh
For most of us, the first years of AA are something like a honeymoon. There is a new and potent reason to stay alive, joyful activity aplenty. For a time, we are diverted from the main life problems. That is all to the good.
But when the honeymoon has worn off, we are obliged to take our lumps, like other people. This is where the testing starts. Maybe the group has pushed us onto the side lines. Maybe difficulties have intensified at home, or in the world outside. Then the old behavior patterns reappear. How well we recognize and deal with them reveals the extent of our progress.
As Bill Sees It, page 216
I started this week’s meeting with this quote from As Bill Sees It because at two years into this journey, even though I feel like a relative newcomer, I am beginning to lose much of the “Pink Cloud” of early recovery. As Bill W put it, the Honeymoon is over. Having spent two years in the rooms, I know what a dangerous place this can quickly become if I allow my program to take a back seat.
If I allow my program to become stale or boring, I am putting myself at risk of picking up that first drink: the drink I know I can never afford to ever take again! Fortunately, I have surrounded myself with the “Winners” in the program, and because of their Experience, Strength and Hope, I don’t have to make the same mistakes some of them have made. I know that now is the time to double-down on working my program. I must question my motives any time someone or something threatens to become a priority over my sobriety. So now the real work begins!
My topic for this week is Keeping your Program Fresh. I’d like to hear from anyone willing to share on how you have kept your program of recovery First and Fresh in your life when the Honeymoon is over. As always, you are also welcome to share on anything you need to share on.