Service is not about guilt or shame
Sam C.
Home group: Men’s Step & Tradition meeting at Alano Club East
Sobriety date: 3/26/25
I am less than six months sober. I often found myself anxious at the idea of service work in my first weeks. I thought that I did not understand the program or traditions well enough to do anything properly. That I would get something wrong, or that I would be doing things for the wrong reasons. Praise or validation, attention or penance. I felt unable and undeserving.
By my third month of sobriety, I was occasionally stepping in to help chair a meeting. I’ve been on a speaker panel. I have purchased month coins for others. I clean. I give rides. I attend general board meetings when asked. I’ve fixed a car radiator. I read for my meeting. I assemble newcomer pamphlets. I call someone when they come to mind. I say yes. These are not all recurring commitments; they are little moments my Higher Power places in front of my feet when I get out of my house and out of my selfish head.
The act of doing service has taught me that it is not about guilt, or shame, or deserving, or ego – it is just about love. It is a genuine joy to be able to contribute to the culture of unconditional love and acceptance for others, just as I was accepted and cared for in my first weeks of sobriety. It is a privilege to be good and kind and decent to my fellows in big little ways.
Editor’s Note: Sam’s story of service in early recovery is an excellent example of AA’s Sixth Principle, Willingness. It’s the commitment to act, openness to new ideas, and the ability to say ‘yes’ to the Steps and practices of the program, leading to a state of readiness to implement the will of a Higher Power.