This is a "We" Program
We is the first word in the First Step and stated or implied in all the others. I didn’t know what “we” meant when I came into the program. I had survived the best way I could in an environment of isolation, judgment, and fear by developing a shield of self- sufficiency, pseudo-independence, self-will, and constant vigilance. I did not trust my own instincts or the people around me. It took four years of visiting Al-Anon, a ten year hiatus, and the hideous alcoholic descent of my child to bring me back to the program and to ask for a sponsor.
The safety of knowing Higher Power was in the room and on the phone when my sponsor and I spoke. It opened me to the miracle of what the “we” aspect of the program is all about. It became safe to say what was on my mind and in my heart; safe to challenge what I did not understand; safe to receive what my sponsor freely offered out of love because it enhanced her program of recovery, too.
I still sometimes forget that I am never alone, that Higher Power is always there for me. It is most often through hearing other Al-Anon members speak or through giving the “we” program away to sponsees that I’m reminded of this ever present safety net of spiritual recovery.