Narcotics Anonymous

Just For Today - Daily Email Service

   March 26                               Trusting a sponsor-worth the risk

   "In seeking a sponsor, most members look for someone they feel they can
             learn to trust, someone who seems compassionate…"

                                              IP No. 11, Sponsorship, Revised

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   The idea of sponsorship may be new to us.   We have spent many years
   without direction, relying only on self-interest, suspecting everyone,
   trusting no one.  Now that we're learning to live in recovery, we find
   we need help.  We can't do it alone anymore;  we must take the risk of
   trusting another human being.  Often, the first person we take that risk
   with is our sponsor-someone we respect, someone we identify with,
   someone we have reason to trust.

   As we open up to our sponsor, a bond develops between us.  We disclose our
   secrets and develop confidence in our sponsor's discretion.  We share
   our concerns and learn to value our sponsor's experience.  We share our
   pain and are met with empathy.  We get to know one another, respect one
   another, love one another.   The more we trust our sponsor, the more we
   learn to trust ourselves.

   Trust helps us move away from a life of fear, confusion, suspicion, and
   indirection.  In the beginning, it feels risky to trust another addict.
   But that trust is the same principle we apply in our relationship with a
   Higher Power-risky or not, our experience tells us we can't do without
   it.  And the more we take the risk of trusting our sponsor, the more open
   we will feel about our lives.

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   Just for today:   I  want to grow and change.   I will risk trusting my
   sponsor and find the rewards of sharing.