“A sponsor has what a newcomer wants: abstinence!“ says A.G. “I wouldn’t be able to sponsor if I was in the food.” In this story, A.G. reminds us that we are promised a lifetime solution to our problem with food, and shares what that looks like.
Laurie, a recovering compulsive overeater, reflects on her gratitude for the gifts that sponsorship brings to Twelve Step recovery.
“The first gift of abstinence is clear thinking, ” says this anonymous OA member. For her, abstinence is also the first priority for being a capable sponsor. “When I walk the walk,” she says, ”I’m willing to be an ear and listen. I feel more flexible and less rigid.”
Have you ever wondered if you can have success in recovery with a sponsor who is not like you. Yes you can says one anonymous OA member. “We are not all alike . . . . What is so wonderful about my sponsor is that she is a really good listener. . . . she trusts the process.”
“My sponsor reminds me there is no such thing as a good or bad sponsor,” says S.S. “All have taught me something and have been examples of what I want or do not want to do.” If you are looking for a sponsor, this story can broaden your perspective.
Is it necessary that you find a sponsor who follows your plan of eating? Let’s take a closer look at this question with a response written by a member of the OA Board of Trustees.
Want to be a good sponsor? Try starting small with this OA member’s suggestions.
Can you start sponsoring with only a month of abstinence? Yes. Can you start if you are only on Step Three? Yes. Can sponsoring someone only take 10 minutes a day? Yes. Will sponsoring fill your life with gratitude? You bet!
“One of the better moves I made early in recovery,” says Anonymous, ”was finding a sponsor, says Anonymous from California USA. “As a sponsor, I have been able to help others and pass one what was freely given to me. . . . and that has proved to be the key to a happy, spiritual, and satisfying way of life.”
Earlier in her program, Barbara E. says she was “extremely skeptical that I might ever become neutral around the foods that beckoned me or that I’d become a happier, less volatile woman.” But her sponsor persisted in feeding her OA wisdom, and Barbara was desparate, and so she listened. Simply put, Barbara says of her sponsor, “She was right.”