When I came into the program of AA, I was physically, morally, and spiritually bankrupt. I didn’t know what was wrong but I knew something was seriously wrong in my life. When I first heard what was being said in AA and saw people, who I knew from when we used to drink and fight together, actually smiling, laughing, and seemingly enjoying life, I knew that was what I wanted. I heard early, in the second paragraph of How it Works, “If you want what we have and are willing to go to any lengths to get it” then COD, come on down.
I wanted what they had badly and was willing to go to ANY lengths to get it. Some of the formerly meanest dudes in Detroit told me to sit down, shut up, and listen. Before, I would have told them and then showed them where to stick it. For some reason, this time I sat down, shut up, and listened. Then they told me and showed me how this spiritual, not religious, program changed their lives. They said that it could and would change my life for the better, too, if only I let it. Having an addictive persona, I wanted more, much more, and jumped in with both feet, ready, able and willing to do anything that would help me get rid of the insane thoughts that I constantly had.
These people who became my sponsors told me that to make it easier all I had to do was fake it until I made it. With no prior religious or spiritual experience, I was like a thirsty, dry sponge just waiting for the moisture of hope to flood me. The hope turned into results that I no longer have to fake. I don’t have to only believe that it works because I now know it works.
I am not in the same spiritual and mental desert that I was. I am not the same person that I was. Today I am Happy, Joyous, and Free and am willing to go to any lengths to keep it. Also to give as much away as I can and/or will be taken by others. I only hope that you can find as much and more for you. This is what Spirituality has done and continues to do for me. This is because I now willingly let it. You can too, if you only let it.