{"id":113,"date":"2017-12-18T04:47:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T04:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/?page_id=113"},"modified":"2017-12-18T04:48:36","modified_gmt":"2017-12-18T04:48:36","slug":"sponsorship-marybeth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/sponsorship-marybeth\/","title":{"rendered":"Sponsorship Mary Beth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sponsorship share excerpted from member, Mary Beth<\/u><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

I thought perhaps I’d share something about the benefits of actually finding your sponsor as opposed to looking in a book or just posting a global request.\u00a0 I understand those exist.\u00a0 It is a hard thing to understand when you first come into the rooms.\u00a0 It\u2019s difficult to understand all of this talk of feelings and boundaries and taking care of one’s self.\u00a0 Often you didn’t come for all of that, you came because someone’s drinking is making you crazy!\u00a0 Then you start hearing things about needing a sponsor.\u00a0 How do you know who to ask to be a sponsor?\u00a0 What is it all about?\u00a0 You don’t understand anything and now people are saying you have to go up to someone you don’t know and actually get a commitment from them.\u00a0 Exactly!<\/p>\n

It is crazy it seems.\u00a0 But when we come in we already feel pretty crazy so don’t let that bother you!\u00a0 Sponsorship is like the intricate part of Al-Anon and how it applies to your life.\u00a0 You work with someone to explore how you feel, why you feel like you do.\u00a0 This person who you don\u2019t know cares about your health (physical, mental, spiritual), how you feel and helping you become more serene.\u00a0 It might seem strange, but true.\u00a0 We have all been at the beginning and gone up to someone and asked to him or her to be a sponsor.\u00a0 It is a wonderful compliment and a gift to be a sponsor, as well as a sponsee.\u00a0 But the most important part is the choosing.\u00a0 By doing this, you apply Al-Anon in ways you might not realize.\u00a0 You have to do something just for you.\u00a0 And you have to ask someone else to be focused on you in a good way.\u00a0 This could be a very new thing.\u00a0 You also have to step outside your comfort zone and trust it is OK.\u00a0 Also could be very new, but if you can walk into the rooms to start with, you can do other things that are a bit awkward and uncomfortable that is also good for you.\u00a0 But don’t just go up to anyone.\u00a0 Go up to someone you have heard or read who speaks in a way that you connect with.\u00a0 This is the magic.\u00a0 This is why I wanted to write this.\u00a0 I prefer it this way, but I’m not clear if\u00a0the group\u00a0wants people posting requests here or not.\u00a0 But it happens.\u00a0 And I suppose people have connected and done well.\u00a0 That is always a great thing.\u00a0 But if you hear or read someone’s share\u00a0and think “wow that means something to me” then through sponsorship you get to go up to that person and say “I’d like more of that good stuff.”\u00a0\u00a0 When I was truly ready to ask someone, and it was almost immediately because I was desperate for help, well just desperate period.\u00a0 It only took me three meetings.\u00a0 The same woman was secretary.\u00a0 It was the way she spoke.\u00a0 She didn’t even share each time.\u00a0 But it\u2019s how she held herself.\u00a0It\u2019s how she spoke to the\u00a0group\u00a0– when she spoke I was just in awe.\u00a0 She exuded serenity and I didn’t know how to explain it but boy did I want what she had.\u00a0 I just found myself walking up to her after the meeting and saying “I think I’m supposed to ask you to be my sponsor.”\u00a0 And she just pulled out a pen and wrote down her contact information and we set up a time for coffee.<\/p>\n

Sponsorship works best when you want what they have.\u00a0 Then little by little, through talking\/writing you share some of yourself and he\/she shares some of himself\/herself.\u00a0 And that “special something” becomes better understood.\u00a0 I’ve worked with my sponsor and I still feel it.\u00a0 She has “that special something” that I still want.\u00a0 I am still learning from her.\u00a0 And when my life gets crazy all it takes is one text, one cup of coffee, one phone call, and I have pushed the “reset” button and serenity returns.\u00a0 That’s what sponsorship can be.\u00a0 And for those who want it, but don’t know how to get a sponsor I recommend not thinking about it so much.\u00a0 Look at the shares that mean something to you…..and go after that “special something.”\u00a0 You deserve it.\u00a0 The unexpected benefit is that your sponsor appreciates the gift you gift them by selecting them to be a sponsor as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sponsorship share excerpted from member, Mary Beth: I thought perhaps I’d share something about the benefits of actually finding your sponsor as opposed to looking in a book or just posting a global request.\u00a0 I understand those exist.\u00a0 It is a hard thing to understand when you first come into the rooms.\u00a0 It\u2019s difficult to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-113","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/113\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asp-afg.org\/members\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}