Friday Fellowship Item #6: A Service Gift I Relish

 
From: "CoDA Announcements" <codalist@codependents.org>
Date: May 18th 2017

Friday Fellowship Item #6: A Service Gift I Relish

Written by a CoDA member, CoDA content approved by Communications Committee

“I am full-time CoDA” is what I sometimes tell people. It’s not entirely true because I do many other enjoyable things as well. CoDA, though, is what I do, now that I can choose how I use my time. No other occupation is so worthwhile.

I got started after learning the hard way that pushing people to attend CoDA meetings was not good Twelfth Step work. I did some exploring on the CoDA website and discovered a committee that answered emails sent to info@coda.org. “I can do that!” I thought, so I joined the team.

What a learning experience! I never realized how much it takes for our Fellowship to continue. Keeping track of hundreds of meetings, producing and delivering literature, the website itself; all took so much more attention than I ever thought of. Even something as simple as the word “CoDA” which has to be legally safeguarded from contamination by “problems of money, property or prestige.”.

But the most important learning was personal. Responding to emails and doing the other service work I took on later was, for me, the rubber of recovery hitting the road of reality. We are all codependents! Most of the time,I am uplifted by fellow service workers inspiring me with their dedication to our program. But not always. On occasion, one or another of them might not answer my emails, or they may send far too many emails, distracting from the work rather than furthering it. Their emails may seem to have been dashed off with little thought to clarity or relevance... those can be tiring and more. Or maybe it’s me….

Why do I continue? Not only because spreading the message of CoDA is so important to me, but also, and especially, because I feel myself participating in a spiritual growth process with my service fellows. By keeping “the focus on myself” when troubles happen, and speaking from the depth of my program, I can express myself honestly, even if intensity ratchets up. It takes a lot of time and my best resources, but then I feel the satisfaction of doing that best, regardless of results.

My meetings are my supports, where I put frustrations into words and thereby this faulted me learns to be both respectful and effective with everyone I encounter. And from CoDA service those lessons become my usual practice in “real life.” I feel myself moving closer to the person I want myself to be. What a gift!

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