I was recently reminded of an old story I heard over 28 years ago when I first joined Alcoholics Anonymous. And it goes like this:
A young man was attending his first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous and someone suggested that he find himself a sponsor.
Since he didn't know what a sponsor's function was or how he could be helped by a sponsor the man he was talking to explained it to him.
After it was explained to him, he asked the man if he knew anyone who could work with him as a sponsor. And the man obligingly pointed out an older gentleman who was seated at the other side of the meeting room.
The young man approached the older gentleman with some trepidation. Then he asked if he could talk to him about being his sponsor.
"What would you like to talk about?," asked the older man.
"Well," asked the younger man, "how many people have you sponsored?"
The older man scratched his head for a moment, then answered "probably in the hundreds."
"And," asked the younger man, "how many of them are sober. In other words, what's your success rate?"
"My success rate is 100%," answered the older man.
The younger man looked at him in astonishment. "You mean that 100% of the people you sponsored are sober?"
"No," the older man replied. "But I am."
And I have always loved this story because it kind of sums up the secret of Alcoholics Anonymous: when we work with others and help them stay sober we have a good chance of staying sober ourselves.
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