– A good person pays back favors; A wise one pays them forward. 
As usual, I got to my meeting early this evening.
As usual, the meeting room was deserted. However, there was a solitary figure sitting off to the side, against the wall.
Although the Mask Mandate has since been lifted at our sober club, she was hiding behind a big pink mask, and avoiding eye contact.
She was drunk, and wracked with guilt, shame, fear, anger and a good dose of self loathing…The full package familiar to any alcoholic.
Evidently, word went out that we had a live one.
A woman from our meeting came in and sat with our new candidate.
Finally, they got up and left. They eventually returned for the meeting.
There are two people I’ve been looking for all these years:
The first person is someone complaining about having too much money, “My portfolio is just too huge and diversified. I’m not comfortable with all these funds!”
The second person is the one coming back from a slip, happy and fulfilled, “My family’s so proud and I’ve never been so content!”
That person doesn’t exist.
Sobriety can be a tricky business. There are no guarantees, no contracts or notarized documents.
We just have each other, and one day of sobriety contingent on our spiritual condition.
Since there’s an unusually high attrition rate, it follows that our most precious commodity is the newcomer.
Even though that newcomer may not see it for themselves, we recognize their vast potential.
Once upon a time, every single one of us has been a newcomer, just like the woman with the pink mask.
As a newcomer, I couldn’t find my own ass with two hands, a road map and a flashlight – but I was accepted and encouraged just the same.
I was at the end of my rope. It was over, and I had nothing.
…Okay, not quite nothing…I had two things:
– Willingness,
– A group of people who believed in me.
That tenuous toehold was enough, and kept me coming back.
HERE’S THE TAKEAWAY:
No one expects perfection. Your best effort is enough.
What’s more, no one ever asked me to do anything they hadn’t already done themselves.
All those old timers who nursed me along, received that same tender care themselves.
Then they turned around and gave it to me.
In good time, I passed it on to someone else.
That’s what Bill and Bob had in mind.
Spoiler alert: Ugly duckling matures into a beautiful swan.