Service helps us feel like we belong. We have a place and a purpose. This experience can humble us. Doing what the team asks of us rather than what we choose is a form of surrender.
Our Guiding Principles, Tradition One, “For Teams”
A sense of belonging often doesn't come easily to us addicts, although some of us can fake it well. We were social chameleons who too often felt like frauds, masking insecurity with perfectionism and control issues behind supposedly high levels of attention to detail. For some of us, this game seemed like a lot of work. We were too cool about it all. We preferred the status of a single person. Or maybe we were just too made up to care. Whatever our situation, most of us have traveled a difficult path to feel the meaning of community and solidarity.
At gatherings, we immediately hear that our desire to clean—however desperate or indifferent we may feel—is our ticket to membership. We are also told—and shown by example—how important service is to cementing our relationship with the Brotherhood and helping us stay pure.
“Until I finally followed my sponsor's lead and committed to a service, I never felt like I was truly a part of NA,” shared one member. "I never thought I wanted to be. Suddenly, I had a voice. I started using it and people were already listening to me."
“I got five pledges in the first 30 days,” shared a younger member. “I stayed clean, but I drove everyone crazy with my brilliant ideas to make everything better. I soon discovered the "group consciousness" - which was not necessarily the same as my own consciousness. I always wanted to know why why why why why".
And someone with plenty of clean time shared: “After 33 years, I still have a hard time letting go and allowing the team to . . ". I want to explain the whole story of how we do things in NA. I may be older, but that doesn't always make me the wiser. Unfortunately!"
If I'm not a SA service warrior, I'll become one (within reason). If I'm chatty in work meetings, I'll make an effort to listen. If I'm practical, I'll try to show someone else how to do it. If I'm a control freak, I'll try to “let go and leave the group” – just for today.
