Having the opportunity to sponsor women in this program is pretty cool. Knowing that another person trusts me enough to guide them through the Steps, and help them along their journey, helps me realize that all of my work in this program is paying off. Before recovery, I am not sure that anyone would want my phone number, let alone my suggestions or guidance. Sponsoring women has led me to seek the guidance of my sponsor on many occasions, and for them I am grateful.
I have had 3 sponsors since I got clean, each of them very different from one another, but perfect for me at the time. My first sponsor instilled in me many of the beliefs that I have about my disease, the most important being that if I use again, I will die. She was straightforward, never sugarcoated anything and truly cared about my recovery. My second sponsor had a lot of experience with life, showing up in the ways that life was showing up for me at the time. She was kind, loving and serene and I wanted what she had. My current sponsor is a woman that I knew of but had never spoken to until about 2 days before I asked her to sponsor me. It still sounds silly to me to say that I was drawn to her before I had even spoken to her, but it’s the truth. The moment we chatted outside of a meeting, I knew my journey was about to take a much-needed fork in the road.
Sponsorship is the heartbeat of my program. The longer I stay here, the more I realize how important sponsorship is to my recovery. I cannot work the Steps alone. I need guidance (although most days I could convince you otherwise). Today I am grateful for my sponsor.
