"Recovery is the only place where you can walk into a room full of strangers and reminisce."
When I began going to meetings, I remember how uncomfortable it was being around so many people that I didn't know. As soon as they found out I was new, many of them came up to me and gave me their phone numbers, asked me how I was doing, and wanted to know all kinds of things that I didn't want to tell them. It was all pretty overwhelming.
As I sat and listened to people's shares, I was pretty sure I didn't belong because I hadn't done half the stuff I was hearing. That's when my sponsor told me I hadn't done them 'yet'. He asked me if I identified with the other half, and I admitted I did. He suggested I should look for the ways I was the same, rather than the ways I was different.
It's amazing how that little piece of advice has changed my life. Now, no matter what part of the world I'm in, I can always find a part of myself in the strangers I meet in the rooms of recovery. Even if I don't know you personally, I know I can identify with many of your experiences and with the way you feel and think.
This is what allows strangers like us to start reminiscing the first time we ever meet.
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.'
