Re-doing the 12 Steps

I was previously in a treatment facility in Washington State, and I was working the steps with a temporary sponsor I had found up there. Currently, I live in Santa Monica, CA. I advanced to the next level of treatment, going from a half-way house, to being in a sober living in Southern California. When I was in Washington, my sponsor and I had a great relationship, we connected on a lot of different things. He was there to help me, and he walked me all the way through step 4. I had finished step 4, and after I finished step 4, I moved to Santa Monica. Now that I am living here, I am currently out of contact with my previous sponsor; therefore I had to find another sponsor here. I am very pleased with my new sponsor, he is great, and I know he will push me to my limits. That is what I need. The only bad thing about this whole situation is that I have to re-do the steps, starting from 1. I was very upset about the situation, because I spent a lot of time on my personal inventory. I thought I did a great job with it; being told I needed to start over is kind of rough to hear. Earlier in the week, I was asked by one of my friends “Hey are you upset about having to re-do the steps?”  I answered quickly and said yes I am livid. I have to re-do everything all over again however, after thinking about it; I quickly realized that it is a good thing for me to start over. If I started on step 4, with my brand new sponsor, it would be kind of hard for us to connect, because he does not know what I have been doing, the progress I have made, or even the down falls I have had. So I am going to take advantage of this restart of the steps. I am going to take the time and do everything even more thorough than I did last time. It will be a good thing for me to do because it will give me the opportunity to correct any other mistakes that I have made. But back to the question that I was asked, this is my first time being in the program, working the steps, and giving sobriety a shot. I now have 8 months sober and clean. So for me being new to this whole thing, I realized I am very impatient when it comes to working the steps and doing what I need to do. I am grateful that I am here now, and I have found a new sponsor. I am going to make sure I get more out of it than I did with my last sponsor. That is a very good thing for me. Working the steps is key to staying clean. It may get hard and tedious, but if it is getting you frustrated it is already doing the job.

By Frankie D.

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