Sponsorship is essential to recovery in Alcoholics Anonymous. An effective sponsor can literally save the life of a fellow alcoholic by guiding him/her through the work that's necessary to stay sober. My guest on today's podcast is Mike S. He saved my life by being my sponsor for the past 32 years.

Mike's AA story is so intertwined with mine that you may learn more about me in this podcast than any other. When we first met in late 1988, I’d been sober only about 10 months. Though I attended meetings and didn't drink, I also didn't have a sponsor and wasn't working the Program. I was miserable in AA, heading towards certain relapse because I didn’t have a sponsor to guide me and to whom I could be accountable.

Mike had been in AA a year longer than I, but he’d gotten a sponsor at 3 months who worked him through the 12 steps very methodically, with an emphasis on the spiritual nature of our Program. The deep and collective wisdom that Mike imparted to me was gleaned from his sponsor. When Mike became my sponsor, he immediately put me to work on the 12 Steps. My Program took off. My life soon became much happier and very sober-centric.

To this day, Mike’s guidance in AA has been indispensable to my sobriety. It's an integral part of my personal story. Interestingly, Mike hasn’t lived in my same city since 1994, yet we’ve remained quite close over all these years. Frequent phone calls, emails, texts, and Mike’s business visits to Houston, have made the miles between us irrelevant to our relationship.

Mike's own story is both meaningful and intriguing. It's an exceptional account of the vital importance of having a sponsor and being a sponsor in the AA Program. To be sure, most of what I know about living an enriched sober life and carrying AA’s message to other alcoholics, I learned from Mike.

So on this, the 27th episode of AA Recovery Interviews, please enjoy my good friend, sponsor, and AA brother, Mike S.

Visit the AA Recovery Interviews website for more information and to contact me, Howard L.

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Check out Howard’s Big Book Podcast, the complete unabridged audio version of the First and Second Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Big Book Podcast is an engaging cover-to-cover, word-for-word reading of all 11 chapters and Personal Stories, many of which were left out of the Third and Fourth Editions. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Or listen on https://bigbookpodcast.com

[Disclaimer: In strict adherence to A.A.’s traditions, my anonymous guests and I speak for ourselves only, not for Alcoholics Anonymous at large. We share only our personal experiences with A.A. recovery. We acknowledge that AA’s sole concern is the recovery and continued sobriety of those alcoholics who turn to the Fellowship for help. As members of AA, our primary purpose is to stay sober and to help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. – Howard L.]