The Service High
Student to Coach
In order to advance from being a struggling student to a thriving coach and teacher in the school of addiction, one must first learn how to be of service to others. Why is service so important in RECOVERY? Is it because SERVICE gives us an opportunity to feel better about ourselves?—A new way to get high maybe? New rewards even?
Have you ever thought that when we are in the service of others—we are actually in the service of our HIGHER POWER? Could the greatest escape and high that we could capture in this life happen when we are in the service of others?
The Service High
There is no greater high in all of the world than when you help someone to change from a negative to a positive. From a struggling STUDENT, to a thriving COACH—who now has the ability to lead struggling students to change; and on and on this cycle go, even making a huge impact on the disease of addiction.
The service high is one that will lead us to an improvement in our character, and the days of being wrapped up in our own self pity will diminish since we will have not the time, nor the energy, to focus inwardly anymore, but only outwardly.
Serving feels good, and we need to find ways to feel better about ourselves. Even the littlest forms of service, like holding the door, or sending out a healthy text message can make all the difference in the world. How can you be of service?
Lose Self Pity
When we are lost in our own self pity, we become susceptible to being selfish. Self pity can become a way of life for many, causing them to focus to inwardly without letting the bright light of charity pour out from their soul; instead, it remains locked inside, along with the poor me attitude.
The holes in our character will be large early on, but as we seek to develop the SERVICE MIND FRAME —then those same holes will be filled with a true love towards others, and even ourselves.
You see it all the time with people in recovery: they change their lives and develop a passion to help others change their lives. They lose the self pity image, and go to work on improving their character. Yes, it hurts, and they are sad often, but they starting looking past themselves and on to others, which changes them in a massive way.
Serve Within Our Home
Serving within our own home / family will be first, which means we are to be patient with those who love us; and we can choose to not be offended when they offer counsel and help while we are trying to make this great change. We must be open with them and not isolate; and we must listen and communicate even when we don’t feel like it.
It is our family members / good friends that are going to see us through this change the most, and not the using friends. However, why is it that sometimes the using friends get treated better than than those who actually love and care for us?
Within the walls of our homes, whether we are married or live with our parents, or whomever— we can offer a helping hand in all of the daily chores.
If we have children, they can witness us being patient with them and their mother/father, while at the same giving them wise counsel as they fumble along in their pre-school stages of life.
By us having patience within our homes, a spiritual sense of reverence will start to dwell therein, creating a most special family atmosphere—which becomes a great form of service in that the home is now peaceful.
AA Meetings and Service
Listening and participating in the AA/NA circle meetings is a beautiful form of service. Those who participate diligently in such meetings often become healed by such meetings, then passing on to becoming a teacher and fellow-shipper themselves, and now participating in a most special form of service.
The circle meetings may have started out at first for the benefit us only, but little did we know that they were to develop into a way for us to serve our fellow man and woman.
In the circle meetings we are to be communicators, and it is through our communicating to others on how it was that we changed our lives that then helps others to find a new perspective on how they, too, can advance further in their process of change.
And so it moves forward, with our HIGHER POWER working through all of those who diligently seek change by implanting into their hearts a new desire to help others change—so that all might catch on to understanding the “service” way of life when enrolled in the school of addiction.