In the beginning of my recovery it was all I could do to share at a meeting. In fact, the first time I went to a dreaded women’s meeting I was so petrified I just watched. Service work was far from my mind but something I’d been told would be invaluable to my recovery. For me, the value of service work was mystifying in a way that rivaled my murky understanding of step three. Today, service is one of the clear markers of my personal progress in recovery and something I know has rounded my recovery in a way that is incalculable.

It started with making coffee. I loved being “coffee girl” as everyone loves coffee and the person who brings it. Someone said to me once, “making coffee will keep you clean” and I do believe it helped to do just that early on. Then, somehow in my first year I was forcibly nominated to co-chair my NA meeting. Huh? I asked, “How is this service?” and the old-timers just smiled and nodded with a …