Service Is Love - Love Is Work

April 28. Hey friends, hope your wednesday was as productive as mine. Either that or I hope it flew by for you all. I got so much done today it was suprising, even though it wasn't a huge amount it was more than I had planned to accomplish & that doesn't happen often. I started out the morning waiting for mom to get back from watching my nephew, after a shower I was out the door & off to an appointment. I had to take a good friend to an appointment at the same time, just one building over. Funny how things work out like that for people heading in the right direction, strange & helpful conveinences appear out of nowhere. In any case we finished up that & enjoyed a nice long ride up & through the hills of the Abingtons, catching the stretch view of my old job.. the magificantly grown & groomed Country Club of Scranton. It didn't used to always look that way & in ages past it looked even better as well. Kind of like many of us who entered addiction/alcoholism we were in better shape before, but much better shape in a way after recovery.

I dropped my friend off then headed out to another stop I had to make, finding out some dissapointing facts about a misconception I had with an agency that I am dealing with from the state government level. I got over that with a phone call to talk to my mom about it & came home, soon after I got a call to meet mom & dad for dinner out on the town. We had a good time & I had to be off to get some hi-tech needs for my business & other stuff. I got a call I didn't expect from an old friend struggling with his disease. He & his girlfriend wanted me to take them to a meeting. Joyous news, even if it was provoked by a judge & legal issues. Any exposure to the fellowship is a chance that they may hear what they need to & finally end their sick & suffering ways. So attend we did & a wonderful topic ensued. I volunteered to help the entire month of may doing service work & setting up the meeting because they announced a dire need for help.

The service work I do for others in the fellowship always greatly enhances my spiritual condition, nearing me closer to spiritual fitness all the while I participate. My friends headed home & so did I, enjoying upgrading my mom's phone & mine with new memory cards. So that leads me to tonight, I spoke a little about what I wanted to mention already, but this busy day was a great day sober. Its worth note to say that because any day I can accomplish everday needs, help a friend & family, volunteer to do service work, do necessary shopping for my career & stay sober... WOW. I didn't have to bat an eye, the thought of my past ways didnt even enter my mind with such a full day of healthy distractions from my disease. The best distraction of all was helping another alcoholic/addict today, in a sense service work.

Service work is so vital, not just attending the meetings but being a part of their lifeline. Everything from bringing new guests that have a drug or alcohol problem.. all the way to making coffee or moving chairs is vital participation that the fellowship could not live without. Its not a list of places & members that go there that comprise the fellowship, its a working moving orchestra all playing to the tune of sobriety. There is no conducter, belief in a higher power supplys the tempo at which we perform. All of this picture I paint is to help remind me that without my participation in service work, one less alcoholic may get sober. If it hadn't been done for the past 75 years before me, then I might not have the miracle of sobriety in my life today. My higher power got me sober, but by leading me to the rooms of the 12 Steps. By no means was I touched by a magical power that completely removed my disease, the compulsions, or the past that I work not to relive.

In short, the best honor we can do for anyone we care about is service work. I care about not only my fellow alcoholics & addicts but my fellow human being. I offer myself in service to as many as I can, putting only my own need to stay sober first & only because I can do nothing for anyone if I am not sober. Does staying sober require for me to enjoy life? Certainly! That is why I need an income, friends, & to do things that make me happy. Without them Sobriety would not be do'able because misery would make me not want it in my life. Although things can be tough, I am multiples happier then I ever was on my best day high or drunk. Good times are not forgotten, only outlived by even better ones today. I believe that if we truly love something we will be of service to it, like our husbands or wives, our higher power, our sobriety.. & for me.. all such things & most importantly my fellow alcoholic. It is fellow alcoholics who have done service for me to get me as far as I have come, & I WILL return that duty of service whenever I am needed so long as my higher power makes it possible. Thanks for listening to my day & my joys.. Good Night.. Good Morning.. <3 Jimmy