Myers R. – Service – Rapidly Working the Steps – 2003

About This Speaker Tape

Myers R. and Chris dismantle the modern drift in sponsorship, arguing that well-meaning but 'weak' sponsorship—characterized by generalities and 'junior therapy'—often leaves drunks sick and suicidal. Myers recounts hitting a bottom seven years into sobriety, writing hot checks in Denton C. and acting as a bully to his children, only to be saved by a 'crusty' old-timer named Cliff B. who told him to shut up and read the book

. The conversation centers on the necessity of working the steps rapidly, the danger of '13th stepping' women in the fellowship, and the insistence that a sponsor's only job is to get the alcoholic to a Higher Power, not to fix their life. They argue that the Big Book is the only reliable map and that any deviation into personal opinion or slow-walking the steps is a gamble with the newcomer's life.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Myers opens with a joke about the beauty of the people in Iceland and his 'goofy' ears after flying.
• 3:45 Myers describes hitting his real bottom seven years sober: writing hot checks and being a bully to his daughters.
• 6:12 Introduction of Cliff Bishop, the 'crustiest, meanest' man Myers loves, who saved him by telling him to shut up.
• 10:20 Laughter: Myers describes the 'Nazi' Big Book group where members slid forward in their chairs to silence his arrogance.
• 15:40 Discussion on the responsibility of sponsors to prevent '13 stepping' and protect women in the fellowship.
• 21:15 Chris enters the conversation to argue against the 'numbers game' of sponsorship and the myth of the 'one or two sponsees' limit.
• 26:30 Chris makes the case for working the steps rapidly, using a cake-baking metaphor to explain why dragging them out fails.
• 32:10 Discussion on 'outside issues' and the role of professional therapists versus sponsors.
• 36:45 Advice on the importance of practicing meditation (Step 11) concurrently with the early steps.