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Hello sfgirl,
First off i will ditto what Carol said about the meetings and the pamphlet. I had two sponsors before I had an AA sponsor. The first one told me all the catch phrases you hear in the rooms and said just don't drink and go to meetings. That may work well for some but I was in such a state of misery when I got here that I needed a solution to replace my solution ( the booze). My second sponsor was pseudo spiritual and very transparent, he was basically the same as my first sponsor but threw the word God around to make it sound better.
Then I was introduced to Jack. I was 90 days sober and a very good friend who forged ahead in AA introduced me to him. He had the solution in the book ( the Big Book that is) and he guided me through the steps. After a few years he moved one way and I the other. We lost touch and I never got a new sponsor. I spent years roaming around aimlessly until I was 12 years sober and contemplating a drink. Then I met Bill ( no that Bill, but he did meet him and Clarence and many of the first AA's). Bill helped me to re-awaken to what AA is all about. We went through the steps again, we talked alot about spirituality. We looked outside AA for certain areas, and talked about the traditions and how important our singleness of purpose is. Today he is one of my dearest friends. We are equals as far as AA goes. There is no heirarchy because of his time or status in AA, but I would not be where I am and in the state of mind I am had it not been for him. The common thing Bill and Jack had in common with me was they made recovery my responsibility. I was never told when I could work a step I was asked if i wanted to get better now. I was also given the freedom to balk. I was not fired for failure to comply with any direction. They showed me the program
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