I’m Heather, your new Area Young People’s chair. I’m super excited for the upcoming rotation. Our committee is currently getting up and running and we are spending time deciding what we want to spend our time and energy on for the next two years. Specifically, I’m asking the committee to think about two questions: 1. How/where do we reach young still suffering alcoholics in the community? 2. How do we get young AA members involved in general service? I’m eager to hear the ideas of the committee. When I was first asked to fulfill this role, I had some nerves. Specifically, I thought, “what am I going to do?!”. My service sponsor and the outgoing YP chair reminded me that I don’t have to come up with all the ideas. If I simply trust my higher power and facilitate an environment where all ideas are welcomed, then our projects will be formed organically. I’m excited to see my higher power and the power of the group in action.
This brings me to our topic for February, “A Host of Friends, Attracting members to service”. That title pretty much sums up my experience in service. A host of friends… that is what I’ve found in general service. I got sober when I was 18 years old. I spent a lot of time thinking that all you happy sober people had to be lying. I thought there was no way you could be so happy and sober at the same time. I thought I was destined to another 60-70 years of being miserably dry. All that changed for me when I started doing service. I’ll always remember the feeling I had during my first assembly. I caught the “service bug” and I knew it was where I belonged. I learned that service is fun! I get to hang out with other “service nerds” and spend my time helping to the still suffering alcoholic. It was the one of the first times I felt a true connection with my higher power.
Nowadays, people know me as the “service junkie”; the one who tries to convince you to come to the assembly; the one with all the announcements at the meeting. People wouldn’t be able to guess that I was once a surly teenager, feeling completely alone in these rooms. People have told me my energy for service is infectious. That’s how it was for me too. I saw people doing service and having fun with it. I wanted that too! That’s what I always try to keep in front of my mind. How do I attract others to service? By having fun! So, let’s do it, let’s have some fun this rotation and make a host of friends!
