“There are many spiritual principles… honestly, openness, willingness…”

– Life With Hope, third edition, page 35

It is the phrase “willing to go any lengths” that sometimes makes me smile when I think back to my first meeting. I was desperate and had gone to the meeting location on two different days, but couldn’t quite get out of the car. I had friends that had gotten clean and I knew that you asked someone to be your sponsor to help you get through the Steps in the book. I was doubtful, resistant and scared, but more frightened of going back to using.

I got out of the car, marched up to the nearest woman standing on those steps of the church, and asked her to be my temporary sponsor. She asked me if I was staying clean temporarily. Next, she asked me if I was willing to go to any lengths. I thought about those two questions the entire hour; I could barely hear the shares. I was willing to try, one day at a time. God knew the kind of sponsor I needed. I think of those questions and, sometimes, there comes a miracle.

Final thought: Today, I can be willing to be willing.