“God helps those who help themselves.” — Benjamin Franklin
Themselves? What?
A lot of us grew up hearing that. Some people use it like it’s gospel. For alcoholics, nope. Sometimes, confused by the idea, we don’t ask for help. Or think we’re bothering people. We judge ourselves as weak. We even punish ourselves for wanting help. And in some sense, we were. Has it gotten easier to ask for help?
Having taken Step Three, we’ve tapped into an immense power that enables us to have victory over alcohol one day at a time and we want to go further in the program. We’ve gained an understanding that letting people help us helps them stay sober too. So we’ve gotten better at asking for help.
So in fact, it might be better to say God helps those who help others. In AA, we’re losing our selfish ways, and one of the most selfish things we can do is not ask for help. We’re finally in the stream of life. Sometimes we find ourselves helping just to be useful for the day without seeking approval from anyone, and it feels good.
“God helps those who help themselves.” — Benjamin Franklin
Themselves? What?
A lot of us grew up hearing that. Some people use it like it’s gospel. For alcoholics, nope. Sometimes, confused by the idea, we don’t ask for help. Or think we’re bothering people. We judge ourselves as weak. We even punish ourselves for wanting help. And in some sense, we were. Has it gotten easier to ask for help?
Having taken Step Three, we’ve tapped into an immense power that enables us to have victory over alcohol one day at a time and we want to go further in the program. We’ve gained an understanding that letting people help us helps them stay sober too. So we’ve gotten better at asking for help.
So in fact, it might be better to say God helps those who help others. In AA, we’re losing our selfish ways, and one of the most selfish things we can do is not ask for help. We’re finally in the stream of life. Sometimes we find ourselves helping just to be useful for the day without seeking approval from anyone, and it feels good.
Where in your life are you still trying to handle everything yourself?
