shaun00

Recently i noticed a few post regarding on-line sponsorship.

My thoughts on the topic are that if all other avenues are exhausted with regards to face2face then I'm sure it has its advantages over no sponsor.

BUT...the internet attracts some weird and wonderful people........that make it their hobby to prey on vulnerable women/men.

Its not only our precious children that at at risk..from predators.

if your like me......i spewed my life history all over my sponsor before id even admitted i was powerless...but he was long standing in AA and was well known.

if you do attempt to get an on-line sponsor please consider..do i know who this guy/girl really is?
do i want to share deep person details with someone Ive never met?.
am i 100% sure this person is who they say they are?

Do some checks.......and do them again.....

or eliminate the risk and get to a meeting and share your looking for a sponsor and some phone numbers......

this is not to discourage people from getting sponsors.......
just to be mindful of risks involved with sharing with someone you've never met.

my face2face sponsor helped me to gain a life beyond my comprehension.

i pray that yours does the same.

Dee74

you make a good point Shaun - thanks.

I've been lucky to have a few good mentors here @ SR - I knew they were good because they never asked of me, only shared their experience...and they advised me never to make rash or impulsive decisions online...

D

Mark75

Dee...

That's a good word for it... mentors.

I like AA, the fellowship and the program. I have a sponsor in real life.... But there are a lot folks here that have helped me in a HUGE way with the program. Sometimes with PMs, sometimes within a thread and a lot of times by just reading and working to understand what and why they said what they did.... whether or not I had posted within the topic.

Mentor... yea, I get that. I had to be sober a while and read and post here a bunch before I could see things clearly though, and most importantly, read enough to really get to know the person... as much as you can in cyberspace.

Mark

Tazman53

Trucker sage words of advice, another reason I can think of for having a F2F sponsor is to where not only can you see thier eyes, but to where they can see yours as well.

When it comes to a matter of life and death I want to know if I am being BSed or not, once I got sober BSing someone F2F became impossible to hide for me, and I have not met another person really in recovery that can BS me F2F.

Boleo

I agree. At the very least do your 5th step with a f2f clergyman, doctor or therapist.

Sikkisirus

Yes, good words of advice Trucker. Im very wary online until ive become used to the people im dealing with. But its cool too, ive made some great friends in far away lands thanks to the internet.

Charmie

im trying to say thank you to the posts above but it wont let me say thanks,,,it thinks im trying to edit posts which i can assure you im not! soooooo,,,thanks.good topic.

shaun00

mentors are great mark.....i have lots and not all of them are in recovery..
people from all different walks of life....have attitudes and wisdoms i aspire too.

some people are naturally beautiful people (in the way they deal with life).......i have met plenty in charity work for example.

sometimes i do some stuff for pensioners......i love to hear how they got through wars and other life trials ..still kept there faith and had the humility to think nothing of helping each other get through it.

or the blind person thats helps the homeless guys at christmas...

although i have an ultimate director.......i have plenty of mentors.

Shaun.

jade09

I am new at AA--went to my first meeting last night---How does one go about getting a sponser?

shaun00

what did you think of the meeting jade?

try sharing with the group that your looking for someone to guide you through the steps...and you need some numbers please.

Boleo

Good response to Jade.

Another question is: are there number of meetings in your area? If so, try a few of them to see which ones you like best. It might work out best if you choose a sponsor in a meeting you will look forward to going to.

Also find out if there are "Big Book meetings" in your area. My experience is the best sponsors go to BB meetings in hopes of finding sponcee's.

stone

I would not do step 5 unless I could see someone's eyes.

I think an online sponsor upto step 3 would be OK if you had trouble finding one F2F.

jade09

my first meeting was so much better than I thought it would be. i did get a meeting book with a few #'s. everyone was very kind. i went to a second one this afternoon. gonna try to keep going. it has worked for so many people.
So many people are actually happy. Happy with themselves and thier lives. I WANT THAT!!!!