Sponsorship and Recovery

But in front of me

Is the paradise I’ve searched for,

Fear it has lurked for so long.

(But in Front of Me, from Fearless Moral Inventory, by Juliet A. Wright, copyright 2010, all rights reserved.)

Another very significant part of my recovery process has been the work I’ve done with my CoDA sponsor. I have a wonderful sponsor. I first met her at a CoDA meeting in Los Angeles before I moved back to Vermont. She is now what you would call a  long-distance sponsor, as we live across the country from each other. I talk to her on the phone every week. I just finished my second trip through the 12 Steps with her.

I chose my sponsor for several reasons.  First of all, she was recommended to me as a good sponsor because she had a lot of recovery time.  Secondly, I really appreciated her shares at meetings and the authenticity with which she spoke.  Thirdly, I felt like we had a lot in common and could get along well.

I wouldn’t be anywhere without my sponsor.  She is my lighthouse guiding me through the storm of my disease.  She knows the Steps like the back of her hand and knows where one could get tripped up on them.  She is also a great listener.  She is a glass is half full person and is teaching me to be the same. That’s saying a lot too because I have always been a glass Half empty kind of a person.

I wrote In Front of Me about how I could see things in my life from the glass is Half full not Half empty perspective.  The sometimes, dreary Vermont winter scenery served as the inspiration for this song.

I work the Steps, answer the Workbook questions, and read the answers to my sponsor. I will continue to do this work with my sponsor as part of my recovery program.

There are very informative booklets on sponsorship that are available at local meetings and at www.Coda.org.