Monday, April 11, 2011

Hope from a newcomer

There was a newcomer at the meeting tonight.  She was in a lot of pain and for much of the meeting could hardly speak for being so emotional.  Her husband has been drinking for quite a few years but the amount being drunk has accelerated recently.  He begins drinking in the early morning and continues throughout the day.  He has promised her that he will stop but has not been able to.

Every time there is a person who comes to a meeting in pain from what alcoholism has done, I feel so much compassion.  But I am also filled with a great deal of hope.  My compassion comes from having been confused and angry, filled with despair when I went to my first meeting.  My hope comes from seeing where I am now and how far I have come in taking care of myself and not fixating on the alcoholic.

I know that if the newcomer can keep coming to meetings, there will be a chance that the pain will cease and there can be happiness in its place.  I have felt so low that I seriously thought at one time about suicide.  And yet,  now I see that was totally my disease telling me that I was no good, unworthy of love, and a complete failure as a human being.  It was through the steps of this program that I learned that I wasn't as bad as I thought nor as good as others thought I was.

Newcomers who keep coming back, get a sponsor and work the steps can feel hope again.  The tears that seem as if they will never go away will be replaced with laughter.  I know because I have seen it happen with others and with myself.  So when a newcomer walks through the door of a meeting,  I am grateful.

I not only am reminded of how I have been helped but am also given an opportunity to extend my hand to offer help to another.  That is what keeps me filled with hope.  I have seen what the 12 steps have done for me and how the 12 traditions have helped me deal with others.  Newcomers do bring hope.

19 comments:

  1. thank you for this great message of service to other.

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  2. We all need a healthy dose of hope.

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  3. I hope she keeps coming back.

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  4. Good post Syd. I believe newcomers in whichever fellowship need the people who remember the pain.

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  5. RE: Your last post Syd. Sunday night a guy brought a bottle of Jamesons to an open mic...liquor is not a usual thing to happen but once in a while there is wine at these things but I could smell that whiskey all through the room, man...damn.

    Good thing I had a teenager with me who I promised her parents would get home safe and at a certain time because
    I know I could have dropped half that fifth in one pull. But it's cool now. Best to C, one slip does not a fall make.

    Hope your newcomer keeps coming back because i am at my wits end with my older bro. He has gone the same route as her old man.

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  6. glad you are there for them man...it says much...

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  7. Newcomers do give perspective and I'm glad they open us for compassion. Compassion is not my long suit. I hope she comes back. I know, the first time I went to a meeting and I wasn't told how to fix my alcoholic and, instead, was assured there was a problem within me and my attitude, I knew this wasn't for me. But, in a few weeks I went back. Again and again. I am grateful for longtimers like yourself. I haven't darkened a door in quite a while. Thanks

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  8. I agree with Shadow. And it's not just your heart- it's your strong spirit, too.

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  9. Glad for your post about your newcomer. I appreciate the newcomer because I too am moved to compassion, for them and for myself when I was at my lowest hours.

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  10. The newcomer made a first step by going to a meeting. One step in taking care of herself.

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  11. "you will be amazed before you are half way through" I love this phrase from the promises. It was certainly true for me, for you, and I hope it will be true for the newcommer as well.....

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  12. I want someone like you at the meeting I finally work up the courage to walk into.

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  13. this is an awesome reflection on the newcomer and the spirit of hope that is carried through them!

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  14. A newcomer at a meeting I was attending read "Detachment" at the close of the meeting. In the middle she started crying. I was so moved by that remembering how beautiful it is for each of us when we learn something so simple yet earth shatteringly new.

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  15. What a great post Syd. I only went 3 times the first time and that was a year ago. I don't know why other than I was angry, hurt and in so much pain I didn't want to sit there - actually even though I didn't talk I cried when everyone else did and I thought it was making it worse for me.

    Now I am on my 7th meeting, I love going, I still don't talk but it really is a relief to go and know all these other Parents are where I have been. When a new person introduces themselves I pray they will keep coming back. I am still so new but it has helped so much.

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  16. they don't call it demon drink for nothing, do they!

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  17. I agree. Newcomers are precious. They remind me of where I've come from and how far I've come. It's also gratifying to watch them come back and see them grow and change over time. Sometimes, it's easier to see changes in someone else than it is to see change in myself. These newcomers remind me that the program does work.

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  18. Great post, great insight, terrific inspiration and perspective. Thank you, for sharing your thoughts with us. I enjoy the point about the hope they offer us and the hope that Al-Anon can provide them, if they work the steps and traditions.

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Let me know what you think. I like reading what you have to say.