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Concept Two is an important idea in our third spiritual legacy – The Twelve Concepts of Service. Concept Two teaches me about trust and reliance; trust and reliance both in relation to Higher Power and others. Concept Two states: “The S-Anon Family Groups have delegated complete administrative and operational authority to their Conference and its service arms.” In my understanding, this means that while the groups are the heart of S-Anon, they cannot handle all the responsibility that comes with keeping a worldwide fellowship running on a daily basis. The groups, therefore, must learn to trust other members and learn how to delegate specific tasks and responsibilities. The groups have to rely both on individual members to take care of the administrative and operational business at hand, but also they trust and delegate specific tasks to our central services at the World Service Office. Within the groups, one member simply cannot handle all the responsibilities/duties that are associated with running a meeting.
When I apply this spiritual principle to my home and my place of work, I see that I have had to learn to not take on all the chores, all the tasks and all the responsibilities. Through my work in this program, I have identified the character defect of self-reliance. I am, for the most part, an independent person. Dependence upon others in the past has been unattractive to me. Dependence upon a Power Greater than Myself has taken me years of practice to achieve. I’m still guilty of taking back the steering wheel from time to time. Recovery is teaching me that dependence does not always have to be unhealthy. I can learn a healthy level of reliance and trust in others and in a Higher Power. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I recognize today that I have limitations. There are times when I cannot make a meeting due to other obligations. There are times that I miss work due to illness, or vacation. There are people that I need to hire to do a job that I cannot do. And sometimes I come across a situation that baffles me.
All of these events can be executed easily or stressfully depending on my willingness to “Let Go and Let God,” to ask for help, and to learn to rely on others. When I do not choose to rely on others, I can become unmanageable and that activates my character defects. When I do not choose to rely on others, it’s usually because I either want to control, I want something done my way, I am fearful that something will not get completed, or I am fearful that something will not be done to my standards. Concept Two tells me that there is a service structure in place for a reason and that I am responsible to do my part in that structure; not to do it all. I am not participating spiritually when I am feeling self-reliant. Instead I am robbing my Higher Power of a chance to help. Likewise, I rob others of the chance to do service when I do not rely on them to do their jobs. I rob others of the chance to experience the benefits of belonging when I do not delegate authority and responsibility for group operations and administration. My ego tells me that I know best. Recovery and Higher Power tell me to remain humble and to ask for help. Concept Two reverberates with this lesson by showing me that a way to remain humble is by relying on, delegating to, and trusting others.
Reprinted from the Fall 2010 issue of The S-Anews©.