Just be honest with your sponsor and tell him you are nervous and apprehensive and I'm sure you will get along great with him.... If you find you cannot relate with your sponsor then just get a new one, that's all.

It's a totally informal relationship.....a friend talking to a friend. Your sponsor will guide you but if he doesn't then just get a new one, that's all.

Good luck on your road to recovery and may you find peace and happiness along the way!

Drop in once in awhile and let us know how you are doing and how the relationship with your sponsor is helping you or not helping you. You need to "click" with your sponsor in order for him to have a positive affect on you.

Many people read these but don't post and don't reply. The path you take in your recovery might help someone else so we hope you will return and keep in touch!

God Bless

If something is affecting your ability to stay sober, it is fair ground for discussing with your sponsor. That being said, your sponsor is not available to you in order to solve your problems, but rather to guide you through the 12 steps. While working the steps, you will learn how to "live life on life's terms" i.e. learn how to deal with life's ups and downs without the need to drink.

My best advice regarding selecting a sponsor is to find someone who "has what you want". If they live the kind of life you want to live, have the relationships you wish to have, if they have the kind of sobriety you want to enjoy, that person can help you achieve those things in the course of completing the 12 steps.

for me, I ring my sponsor about anything, whether it be good or bad, she is always there to listen and provide me with stuff that when I hang up the phone, I always feel better and alot more peaceful, You can cry, laugh, scream, be angry, if you connect and trust with your sponsor, can change your entire life..............one day at a time x (initially I had to work through guilt that I was imposing on her time, Big Book has taught me it is a two way relationship and she is providing me with 'service' so we both benefit)

It is so much more than just phoning if you want to take a drink...........................you will see x

Good question. So you are asking how do you behave when it comes to your sponsoring? That's how I read it.

I think you have to have the humility to be honest and believe that a sponsor, or your sponsor, wants to help you and will help you, if you help them help you. Ask yourself if being shy is necessary? Ask yourself if your nerves are something someone who is helping you will mind? I doubt a good sponsor sees shyness or nerves as something out of the ordinary.

If you like your sponsor, or if you like his record staying sober, and talking to them makes you feel better after, and if what they ask you to do or guide you towards makes you sane, sober, and more effective as a person, all leading to you being able to not drink, then you can start depending on them as a friend, and support system even as an individual inside of the overall group, or organization as a whole.

Early on my mind and ego wanted to rebel against what my sponsor was telling me, but after staying committed to the belief that this was the person God saw a most fit to help me, which ended up being completely true, despite their own flaws, the relationship just grew, even as I grew in a different direction and didn't need to be supported directly daily.

I called my sponsor everyday, and that action told him I was ready to study and learn the steps daily, so we were able to incorporate them into my life in a very short period, and after a few months, I knew the meaning and how to utilize them in daily living concretely. To this day, I have a very real working comprehension of what each step means, and how to apply it to life, or stress, so I won't have to apply alcohol to life or stress. This all started because I used my own willpower to believe that this person wanted to help me and would help me if just gave them the chances to do so.

So I would listen more than anything, and trust that the process of sponsorship is never to be seen as a burden, and if you start off believing this is a God deal, and God is in charge, your sponsor will start teaching you things you never thought you'd ever understand, and they won't believe the things they start saying either, it's really a cool experience you shouldn't miss out on.

For me UTM doing my 4th step was my 4th step. Therefore, I could not do it wrong and I did not need to do it right. Not all of my inventory was shown to me at first. I seen what I needed to start my journey and as the BB says more will be reviewed.

As my sponsor said to me don't sweat it, what you need will be shown and as you grow more will be shown. Just get on the bus and start to enjoy the journey.

Good Luck G8