"Go to 90 meetings in 90 days. If you're not satisfied, we'll gladly refund your misery."
I'll never forget how crazy I was when I was new. My poor sponsor had to listen to my endless rants, my objections to his suggestions, and all my 'better ideas'. Worst of all, he put up with my constant doubts about whether the program would actually work for me. And that's when he told me to give it 90 days and if it didn't work, he would gladly refund my misery.
I thought he was just being a smart aleck when he said that, and I became determined to prove him wrong. So I did what he told me to do - I got a home group, took commitments, worked the first three steps, and I went to a meeting every day for 90 days. At the end of all that I was amazed that I not only felt better, but my life was improving as well.
When I next asked him how long I'd have to go before I could drink and use again, he smiled and said, "Why don't you try the program for 12 months and if you don't like it, we'll gladly refund your misery". While I balked at the thought of staying sober for a whole year, I secretly imagined toasting my anniversary with a glass of champagne. Nine months later when I took my one year cake, I looked at my sponsor and told him I didn't want my misery back.
And that's when he told me I never had to go back to that way of life again, as long as I kept working my program, one day at a time...
Please Pass it On!
Copyright @ 2014 Michael Z
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
I had this paragraph typed out which was my long-winded way of agreeing with it. I hit "subscribe to this topic" instead of "post quick reply". I have done this twice today so I thought, although I don't think there was anything contrary about it, maybe my HP was looking out for me. So I will just say....
Love this post, Pappy.
(....and I still made it a bit long-winded, didn't I?