A Unique Program

 I have access to WebMD, but I don’t practice medicine. I can play a siren sound, but I can’t ticket a speeding driver. I can spell ‘engineer’, but I can’t build a bridge. These people are professionals. They know what they’re doing, and they’re paid to do it.

We in A.A. aren’t, at least in the settings of our rooms, professional therapists or rehab specialists. If I talk to an active alcoholic, I bring my personal experience only. There is no remuneration. This has immense worth; there is no ‘angle’ to sharing what’s worked for me. I receive no monetary payment. This is so important to the one-on-one encounter. The value is in the sharing itself, not what I may get from it. 

The whole purpose is in sharing what it was like for me, and what my turning point was. Personal. I get to show a person who is still picking up that first drink, even though they’ve promised themselves over and over not to, that it is in fact possible for them as well. I have the opportunity to hold a lantern in their darkness, and invite them to hold their own light for the next person, because that’s how it works. One person, sharing with one person - freely, with no hidden agenda. It is my responsibility to give as I’ve received - freely, honestly, repeatedly.

It’s a program of “attraction, not promotion”, so my ‘job’ is to live by the principles, to the best of my ability, and to then be ready to share of myself in whatever way I’m able to anyone who is ready to find a solution. 

So what’s in it for me? More clarity of my own journey. Another day of sobriety. A degree of connection with my Creator which cannot be bought. Unique, indeed.