Life is not life at all without delight.
-- Coventry Patmore

Newcomer

I'm tired of following the same routines week after week, month after month. I've been thinking about taking a trip for a few days. I know, I know, you warned me about geographic changes. But I want to do something different.

Sponsor

Congratulations, I'm glad that you're planning to have some fun, and that you're not using program wisdom to beat yourself with.

Change is good for us. It can help wake up and refresh our spirits, show us things we haven't seen before, give us a new perspective on our ordinary lives. We can travel thousands of miles or stay close to home, as long as we take the principles and habits of recovery with us. Wherever we are, we can read a piece of program literature, pray for help staying in recovery, or phone our sponsors. The loving guidance of our Higher Power goes with us.

As we travel, it may be possible to attend meetings of our own Twelve Step fellowship or an open meeting of one of the many other Twelve Step programs. We can get listings ahead of time by making phone calls to our own program headquarters, and we can check local newspapers and phone directories when we arrive. Belonging to this fellowship is a little bit like having a membership in an international club; we can meet the locals, wherever we go, by attending a meeting. The faces may be different, but the program is the same.

Today, I refresh my spirit by trying something unfamiliar.