Got a sponsor tonight! Woohoo! Finally bit the bullet and asked another woman at my home group. There really aren't more than a few regular women there, so I don't know what took me so long. For some reason it was just very difficult for me. ANd finally this week, I was just like, why am I making this so difficult? The main thing is that I have someone that I can call, and that I keep working the steps. And I know I need to do 8 and 9 with a sponsor, so anyway - I got off my butt and did it. I will refer to her here as "M-." She was very sweet about it, and has been very sweet to me since I started, but she has no kids and works days, but in the end none of that really matters when it comes to working the program, so - here we are!
We will be setting up a meeting to get started, I expect sometime in the coming week or so...
Showing posts with label Sponsors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sponsors. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Sponsor Search
There were only 3 ladies at teh meeting last night, but I passed the sheet, and all of them were interested, and shared their information. 2 of the 3 are available during the day, and I'm leaning towrds one over the other. But I will wait and see if there are any ladies there on Monday that weren't there tonight - and then I will probably call a couple of them and see if I can't schedule a lunch, so that we can talk, and get to know each other. Thinking that will probably help me figure it out!
One lady lives in west Erlangen, which is very close to me, and she is a native English speaker, so right now she is candidate number one. Which is funny, because she was chairing the first meeting I went to, and she was also the first person who crossed my mind!
One lady lives in west Erlangen, which is very close to me, and she is a native English speaker, so right now she is candidate number one. Which is funny, because she was chairing the first meeting I went to, and she was also the first person who crossed my mind!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday Night Meeting
Went to my first Monday night meeting in Fürth, which is a literature meeting. Felt a little more comfortable than I did on Friday, although it was mostly new faces again. Only one person there had been there on Friday, but it was a slightly smaller group, so a bit easier to feel comfortable. After reading about half a chapter from the Big Book, they opened it up for discussion, related to the reading or not, and another newcomer introduced himself and mentioned that he had just gotten out of treatment, and shared a bit of his story. So I introduced myself again, and shared a bit of mine, and then a couple of the old-timers did as well.
One of these guys was P., who is the contact my husband was given when he contacted AA, and traded emails with. He gave us the times of the meetings in the email, but did not get back to us with a temporary sponsor. One of the memebers again stressed the importance of getting a sponsor, and so I mentioned to P. that I thought I would pass around a list at the Friday meeting to see if anyone was interested. He seemed to think that was a good idea - but another recovering friend of mine cautioned me today about being too hasty, too. So i'm thinking that when I pass the list that I make it clear that I am looking for a temporary sponsor - and then start from there. That way I would have someone to at least get familiar with, and have a person to call, without being nervous that I might have committed to some whacko. I do have a list of contacts from teh group, so I could call any of them if I really needed to, but somehow I don't see myself doing that. I have a tendency to rely on myself, so I'm feeling liek I need to get this type of relationship started, and teh sooner the better. It's easy for me to isolate, especially living in this little village, and being home all day.
The other newcomer was in the military, and shared that there is a good meeting on Thursday nights in Ansbach as well. He wasn't sure what time the meeting was, so I'm hoping to hear that it might be doable, as well. Ansbach is an hour away, so it would certainly be harder to schedule, but since it is on a military base, the native English speaker membership might make it worthwhile. I hoped I could get 3 meetings in a week, without having to go to a German one, so hopefully that works out. I'm also thinking that since one of teh routes there is almost all autobahn, I might be able to cut it down to 45 minutes if I really take advantage of the fact that there are no speed limits here!
I also went to my first lady's bible study (which I participated in before treatment, it's with our local church and is full of wonderful ladies, but none of them is recovering.) They knew that I would be in the US for treatment, but I never let them know what it was for. So when prayer requests came up today, I mentioned that I could use help in finding a sponsor. That met with some quizical looks, so I went on to explain that it was for AA, and what sponsorship means, and why it is important. So, they know now! I mean I didn't come out and say I'm an alcoholic, but they all know what AA is, so now they know. I wanted to make sure and tell them, but I wasn't sure how it would come up. It's the first time I've really shared it with anyone outside of treatment or my immediate circle, so it was kind of a milestone, and an important one for me as far as humility and honesty are concerned. Of course they were very understanding and supportive, which I expected, but it was still a significant first!
One of these guys was P., who is the contact my husband was given when he contacted AA, and traded emails with. He gave us the times of the meetings in the email, but did not get back to us with a temporary sponsor. One of the memebers again stressed the importance of getting a sponsor, and so I mentioned to P. that I thought I would pass around a list at the Friday meeting to see if anyone was interested. He seemed to think that was a good idea - but another recovering friend of mine cautioned me today about being too hasty, too. So i'm thinking that when I pass the list that I make it clear that I am looking for a temporary sponsor - and then start from there. That way I would have someone to at least get familiar with, and have a person to call, without being nervous that I might have committed to some whacko. I do have a list of contacts from teh group, so I could call any of them if I really needed to, but somehow I don't see myself doing that. I have a tendency to rely on myself, so I'm feeling liek I need to get this type of relationship started, and teh sooner the better. It's easy for me to isolate, especially living in this little village, and being home all day.
The other newcomer was in the military, and shared that there is a good meeting on Thursday nights in Ansbach as well. He wasn't sure what time the meeting was, so I'm hoping to hear that it might be doable, as well. Ansbach is an hour away, so it would certainly be harder to schedule, but since it is on a military base, the native English speaker membership might make it worthwhile. I hoped I could get 3 meetings in a week, without having to go to a German one, so hopefully that works out. I'm also thinking that since one of teh routes there is almost all autobahn, I might be able to cut it down to 45 minutes if I really take advantage of the fact that there are no speed limits here!
I also went to my first lady's bible study (which I participated in before treatment, it's with our local church and is full of wonderful ladies, but none of them is recovering.) They knew that I would be in the US for treatment, but I never let them know what it was for. So when prayer requests came up today, I mentioned that I could use help in finding a sponsor. That met with some quizical looks, so I went on to explain that it was for AA, and what sponsorship means, and why it is important. So, they know now! I mean I didn't come out and say I'm an alcoholic, but they all know what AA is, so now they know. I wanted to make sure and tell them, but I wasn't sure how it would come up. It's the first time I've really shared it with anyone outside of treatment or my immediate circle, so it was kind of a milestone, and an important one for me as far as humility and honesty are concerned. Of course they were very understanding and supportive, which I expected, but it was still a significant first!
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