Blog for September 2nd 2024
Commitment: The state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc. “an agreement or promise to do something in the future.
Whoa, this is a very big word. It’s one of the most important things and the first thing I did for my recovery. I made a commitment to stay clean, one day at a time. And in the beginning, maybe just an hour at a time, or a minute at a time. Eventually, one day at a time became such a regular and ordinary thing to do that it was just simply staying clean.
I don’t remember saying it out loud, but I did make a commitment to myself to try and stay clean. Because of that inner commitment, I took other commitments, like secretary of the women’s meeting. Then “Group Service Representative” (GSR) for a couple of meetings. The first meeting in our area, Sunday night, and that Women’s meeting. I would travel about eighty miles away- one way- to represent us and each month I would switch back and forth representing those meetings.
As time continued, as my recovery continued, I made many more commitments. I did a lot of driving; I made a few new friends in distant places and of course in my local fellowship. I learned a whole lot about Robert’s Rules of Order and how to conduct business meetings. I learned about protocol.
You may ask, and so “how did that help you stay clean”? Well, the thing with people taking commitments is that it should be in a cause that they are “committed” to. I personally was so thrilled with staying clean each and every day, that I wanted to share this gift with others. One of the best ways to do that is to be of service to the organization that is behind my one day at a time staying clean life.
When I am of service I can better carry that message to the still suffering addict in many ways. Like when I was Chair of Activities committee, we would plan events that were not only fun and promoted fellowship, but it raised money to buy literature and pay for the hotline and other things we would do to carry the message. We also developed our own area’s website, and we would make fliers with events, phone numbers and so on, plus we ran our meetings in the local newspaper.
So that has been the main thrust of my commitment to recovery. I don’t want people to die of drug addiction. And I want the people who are already here to stay here and keep getting healthier in mind, body and spirit. When we work together in unity, we grow. These commitments are rewarding, they are about selfless service and caring about others. I think the word is “altruistic”: showing a concern for the well-being of others. And doing things without ulterior motives and personal gain.
I’ve noticed that in the program, this altruism is a bit contagious, when one of us starts to help others, then other people want to join in and help too. It can be great fun and very rewarding, it is indeed a great feeling when you are helping others and giving back to a cause that saved your life.
This last weekend was the World Convention of Narcotics Anonymous, this time it was held in Washington DC. I did not get to go, but they had a few meetings we could stream in to and listen to the speakers. On Friday morning they had a panel of five recovering addicts, all of them with over fifty years clean! This was a historical event for NA. That’s never happened before. The MC ask them certain questions and they’d take turns answering. It was awesome. One of the questions was about the service work they have done with NA in their time clean. They all have always been of service and still are. But one comment stuck out to me by one of the women, she said “helping others comes naturally when we get clean.” I agree!
Question of the Week: Do you have commitments that do not pay money, but pay you rewards that cannot be measured?
