Get a life

Sometimes people say one should not sponsor so much or do as much service because one should, as they put it, get or have a life.

The fallacy is that sponsorship and service are not living and that the experience they afford is somehow the second prize, with something elusive called 'life' being missed out on elsewhere.

This is really code for the idea that, instead of serving God by serving others, one should engage in selfish pursuits.

Now, of course, serving God needs to be done outside AA as much as within, in the family, work, and the community or society at large. Some fun does not go amiss either. Life also needs some basic maintenance.

The bottom line is this, however: for most of us, living life based on self is the second prize. To really get a life, stop seeing your life as your own and see it as God's. That is how you access the real riches.