When I take a broad view of the world, I don't believe that anything comes into our lives by chance. But when I'm caught up in the day-to-day events of life I sometimes forget that.

I have a sponsee who regularly tests my patience. Everything is about him. Everything is a big deal. He's on parole and he often tries to deal with life in free society with the coping skills he learned in prison. Of course, this doesn't work too well in the free world where respect is earned by behavior, not by how many tattoos one has or how willing one is to hurt someone over an imagined slight. The test of my patience is helping him to realize that different rules apply in the free world, that there are different rules for living in freedom. Sometimes this is a daunting task.

Then I realize that God puts people in our path for a reason. Maybe one of the reasons is that when I was his age I was much like him, minus the tattoos. Because of my drug addiction I was incarcerated for many years in California. I know that I tested the patience of those around me. I never got things quite right. I didn't understand why things didn't go my way. I thought that people who didn't understand my drug abuse and alcoholism simply didn't know how to party. The court once sent me to a therapeutic community. I was repeatedly sentenced to jail and prison. Nothing seemed to work.

And now I have this young man in my life who is much like I was during those years. And reflecting, I believe that the reason he is here now is because I can offer him my insights on sobriety.

Each day I have to ask God to give me the patience to deal with what is put before me. In dealing with people like this sponsee I must realize that I have no power. My job as a sponsor is to give him the information that I have about staying sober and to let him know that I'm there for him if he wants to change. I can have no expectations about the outcome if I don't want to be disappointed.

When I walk away from this sponsee and go on about my day I feel better. I guess I leave with the feeling that at least I made my best effort to share my experience with him. Whether he uses it is not up to me. It's between him and God.