Working the S-Anon program has renewed my hope. I have found hope through a wonderful sponsor who works with me. Even though it seems that I am taking forever to finish my Fourth Step inventory, I feel grateful to have a sponsor. She has been very gentle and patient with me, telling me, “don’t push the river; it flows by itself.”
My hope also comes from attending our S-Anon International Conventions and our regional S-Anon marathons. At these gatherings, I learn more about working the S-Anon program from members from other parts of the country and the world. As they share their experience, I learn hopeful new ideas that help me become able to take better care of myself. I become aware of new insights into my behavior and my character defects.
The experience that gives me the most hope is the relationship I am developing with my Higher Power. Not only does my serenity depend on that relationship; through that relationship I truly have rediscovered myself in a way I could never have imagined. This rediscovery is illustrated by a photo I have of myself at about two years of age. That picture shows a joyous, smiling, golden-haired little girl who has hope and love in her face. I know that God is within that little girl, and that God is within me as an adult, too.
Reprinted from S-Anon’s Reflections of Hope, page 336.