I tried it without a sponsor, I thought I could just simply "not drink" since my first attempt to get sober in February of 2008.

Got me drunk all that summer...brief period "dry"....drunk in November....brief period "dry"....drunk again in February of this year. Got a sponsor, working the steps, going to meetings now & I'm over 90 days in. I finally FELT step 1...no WAY could I have done that without my sponsor. NO WAY!! I am grateful. :)

I went brief intervals without a sponsor when my sponsor moved or once when another sponsor fired me. Knowing that my mind was like a bad neighborhood at night, I never entertained the idea that I could just wing it. Nowadays though I don't call my sponsor very often, I will still call her or talk to another alcoholic when I need to check my thinking or have a question about something. I don't know if I'll ever feel as if I don't need the counsel of others. I'm certainly not cured.

Great topic!

I am in touch a lot more with my sponsor recently due to having a few new sponsees. She is an excellent sponsor with many years experience so I appreciate her guidance on the process.

I believe I will always benefit from having a good sponsor.

My sponsor is a great guide, especially when it comes to helping others and the way she took me through the Steps. Her mission with all her sponsees is to get them to God and practise spiritual principles to find their own answers to life's challenges. Having said that, she is always there as a sounding board should I need to discuss anything. I don't need to lean on her and she has no expectations of me. Just the way it should be, in my opinion.

As far as the Hazelden quote "A recovering alcoholic without a sponsor is much like a ship without a rudder.." I would agree that this is most often the case with those in early recovery.

Once I recovered I found it unnecessary to call my sponsor much, I find that prayer and meditation, Steps 10,11 and 12 help greatly to prevent small problems or discomforts getting out of control. We do not have much in common outside of our alcoholism but I do look forward to seeing her at our home group meeting each week.

Gail, Totally agree. After time being in the program and you need your sponsor on a daily basis or close to it, ya might want to take a look at your progress and GROWTH.

My first sponsor told us/me he was just there to get us started, so you might imagine it did not take me long to be off on my own! He looked at me a bit knowingly when I told him, and he even dared to suggest I had yet to actually get started ... but I had already read the part in the book about "one man with this book in his hand" and had become quite sure of myself. Within weeks I was almost begging him to take me back under his wing a little longer.

Clarence Snyder wrote an insightful "Light Bulb" pamphlet that talks about our responsibility to help newcomers get pointed in a right direction and get some help along the way, and I am grateful my own sick mind somehow still understood (and still understands) my need for G.ood O.rderly D.irection even from a sponsor who was/is far from perfect.

Absolutely agree Lee!