Wednesday, March 20, 2013

New Perspective

A recovering alcoholic told me he called his sponsor because he needed help with issues he was facing.

When his sponsor answered, he blew up the phone: he was about to lose his job. His wife was pissed off at him. One of his kids was getting expelled from school for smoking marijuana on school grounds. And so forth.

"Sounds like you have a lot going on," his sponsor told him. "Why don't you go with me on some errands I have to run. Afterward we can work on your stuff."

The sponsor took him to visit a friend, a young woman who's suffering from a deadly cancer. In fact , her prognosis is not good.  That day she'd been told by her doctor that the last round of chemo she'd underwent hadn't worked as expected. They were going to subject her to chemotherapy for another three months. But In spite of this bad news the woman was upbeat and making plans for the future.

When they left the woman's house and were driving home they both were quiet and contemplative. When the sponsor stopped at his house to let him out he asked "Now what was that you called me about. You had some kind at issue he wanted to discuss?"

"It was really nothing," the man replied. “Nothing at all.