Good Morning -

     I hear every now and then somebody with centuries of truly quality sobriety (/sarcasm) tell someone with just a short period in recovery that until they have "X" or more years they have nothing to contribute.

     Bull Sh*t.

     Couldn't be further from the truth. I don't know about you, but I remember when I first came into the rooms I had a really hard time relating to anyone with more than about two years of continous sobriety. Not that I didn't believe them, but I didn't feel the way they did. I couldn't project my life to where they were.

I was on pretty shaky emotional and spiritual ground. Didn't know how to "live life on life's terms", "drop the rock" or apply many of the tools of AA to my life. All I knew was if I drank I would die.

I learned a lot from people with between 2 months and 2 years under their belts. They said things I understood. spoke of feeling the way I did. They talked of things they did to solve their immediate problems. Often the same problems I was looking at trying to solve without playing the fool. I also had a sponsor, but often found what I needed from those young others. My sponsor just confirmed what they had said.

    Sure, many of us with only a few months of sobriety may not be ready to be a sponsor. But one should never belittle their contribution at the tables. Often their newly sober example is the one reason that newcomers come back. That hope that they can someday have 30 days without drinking.

That's a good thing for this drunk... 

Nuff Said,

Dennis