Allow me to introduce myself.
I am Mr. SponsorPants.
Hello!
More than 20 years clean and sober, and (dear God) more than 45 years old.
This is a Sponsor Blog. Or, to invent the word, a "sponsorial" blog. (I suppose I could have gone with "Splog" but let's not get too cute right out of the gate, eh? Plus, is it just me or does 'splog' sound kind of dirty?)
Basically, this blog is an open advice column for alcoholics (specifically) and addicts (in general) who might want some help in both working through the 12 Steps of AA, and in applying the general principles of AA (rigorous honesty, willingness, humility/ego-smashing, open mindedness, tolerance of others/forgiveness and service, to put names to most of them) to the real world situations that come up on any given day in any given life.
And I, ladies and gentlemen, in keeping with the tradition of anonymity, shall go by the name of ... Mr. SponsorPants!
Pleasedtameetcha.
(Superbloggers -- which the Internet is full of now -- would no doubt have a link somewhere here that would go to an entry regarding 'anonymity' -- what that's about and why I feel strongly about maintaining it -- but this is my first post, so you'll just have to be patient. I'll write one, and then link it. Soon as I figure that out. On it. Top of my To Do List.)
Why me? And why a blog?
Well ... let me be clear up front: I am not an "expert" in anything.
What I do have is experience in applying the principles of AA, imperfectly but consistently, to my own life on a daily basis for more than 20 years.
And over the course of those 20 years, I have accrued a lot of experience sponsoring people (a lot of people, actually). But not only does that not make me an expert, I want to be clear that that does not make me a therapist either. It makes me an experienced sponsor -- but I am neither an expert in treatment nor am I a therapist.
Jeeze, I guess I feel strongly about being clear there, since I said it twice.
Redundant redundant, Mr. SponsorPants.
(In fact, people who need a therapist should go and find one, and along those same lines, anyone who is not a medical professional who gives medical advice is only slightly less idiotic than the person who takes the medical advice of someone who is not qualified to give it. Get clinical help if you need clinical help, and get medical help if you need medical help.)
Basically, a sponsor helps you get through the 12 Steps and apply the principles of AA to your life. More generally a sponsor is a spiritual adviser, using their own experiences (both the good ones and the painful ones) as a way to apply AA's "design for living" through good times and rough times. (There are two places in AA literature that give a good picture of what a sponsor is. There is a brochure called "Questions and Answers on Sponsorship" and also there is a chapter in the book "Living Sober" that talks about sponsorship as well. If you sit and listen in meetings to people describe their sponsors the role can get a little overblown, or intimidating. When in doubt, check the lit, kids. Always the best resource on these things.)
A real live face-to-face person is probably the best way to experience sponsorship, but sometimes you need a different take on a problem, or some things are so raw that to start by discussing it with an anonymous stranger might be a helpful first step in then bringing it to the people in your life, that is, your sponsor, or the people in meetings, and/or ultimately the other people in your life impacted by your disease and effected by your sobriety. (Or is it affected, I can never remember.) Hence, this blog: Mr. SponsorPants. A place to get ideas and advice and suggestions about applying the 12 Steps to your recovery and thus, your life.
(Pretty exciting to use the words "hence" and "thus" in the same sentence. Kinda Shakespeareanish. Shakespearean-y? Zounds!)
Of course anyone might benefit from applying the principles of the 12 Steps to problems in their life -- but that's a pretty tall order -- most folks aren't going to be interested in doing that. Hell, most people in Recovery aren't interested in doing that!
But we sort of have to, if we want to stay on an even keel and remain clean and sober.
But of course anyone is welcome to consider this information and hopefully, to paraphrase what it says at the end of the 'Doctor's Opinion' in the Big Book, "though they came to scoff ... they may remain and get some good stuff out of it."
So ... questions, ideas, comments, problems ... bring it on. Drop me a line at
Thanks!
Cheers!
Mr. SponsorPants
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