January 22
The Freedom to Call
Having someone to call can make it easier to go somewhere alone. We may enter an unfamiliar meeting, face a difficult appointment, or spend a sober evening away from home because we know we need not carry every feeling by ourselves. The support has not made us less capable. It has allowed us to attempt something we might otherwise avoid.
Dependence can frighten us when we imagine it means handing over our whole life. Yet much of the help offered in A.A. makes room for us to live that life more freely. Someone shares experience; we find the courage to act. Someone listens; we hear our own difficulty more clearly. Trust in God may grow through these ordinary exchanges. We remain the person who walks into the room, with the reassuring knowledge that walking in alone does not mean being entirely on our own.
Where has accepting support given me more freedom to participate?
There is strength available beyond what I carry myself.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Three, pp. 35–39.