One of the main reasons why 12 Step recovery works to help keep people sane and sober is due to its fellowship, which I continue to be blessed by because one aspect of it constantly reminds me that I don’t have to feel so alone in life anymore.
When active in addictions, most people have little to no fellowship going on in their lives. Instead, it’s normally every man and woman for themselves in a daily quest to find and engage in the substance of their addiction and nothing else. But in a life of 12 Step recovery, the fellowship is so much more about the “we” and the “us”, rather than the “I” and “me”. And those who do their best to work a solid program can generally testify to this truth because of the care that comes out of each of their hearts for one another. A good example of this is with one of my close sober friends, who I’ll label as “K.”, for anonymity purposes.
We usually meet every Sunday afternoon before our home group to have coffee together. There, I have had many moments that have helped me incredibly to not feel so alone in life. The past few specifically I showed up to were in very sorrowful states of mind, yet “K.” helped me in each of them to rise above it and see things in a much better light. There have also been times where “K.” really needed me for support and I have done my best to help “K.” not feel so alone either. Over the past couple of years, we both have seen each other cry during some of those coffees and shared in the blessings of that recovery intimacy because of it. Why this is such a blessing for me is because when I was deep into my addictions, I lived in a constant state of chaos and depression with next to no one to help me through any of it. And because of this, I ultimately felt alone more than not, yet know through things like these Sunday afternoon coffees with “K.”, I don’t feel so much of that anymore.
Another great example of the power of fellowship happened just over a week ago when I was having an extremely difficult pain-filled day and experiencing a tremendous amount of despair. I really needed a friend and decided to message someone on Facebook, who I’ll label as “L.”, that I know is sober, yet I’ve never actually met them in person. My connection to them is through this very blog, as they have supported me in my 12 Step efforts by reading along with my musings for more than a year now. Upon receiving that message, I got an instant response that they were opened to a phone call and we ended up having a great chat right after that, for almost an hour. And by the time that call ended, I felt so much better and was truly grateful for the fellowship of recovery having helped me once again to not feel so alone in life.
There are vast numbers of other experiences I could write about where the fellowship of 12 Step recovery has truly helped me to not feel so alone as well. From holiday get-togethers to meals dined out to game nights to phone calls during very late hours, to so much more, I can at least attest to the power of the fellowship of recovery in one specific aspect. That as long as I take the first step and reach out for help, I can always find it somewhere and when I do, it constantly reminds me that I don’t have to do this alone any more. But more importantly, that I don’t have to feel so alone in life anymore either…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
