What is a Sponsor?
A sponsor is a member of Nar-Anon with whom you can share intimate thoughts and feelings about how you have been affected by a loved one’s drug addiction. A sponsor will guide you through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions so that you can apply them to your daily life. A sponsor can guide you by making suggestions and by sharing their experiences. You do not have an obligation to follow a sponsor’s suggestions, but there is an old saying, “If you want what I have, do what I do.”
[© 2012 NFGH Inc. Questions on Sponsorsip]
When someone agrees to be a sponsor, that person is making a commitment to spend time listening and talking with you outside of regular meetings.
If you are interested in becoming or finding a sponsor, visit the webstore for sponsorship literature: Questions on Sponsorship
Finding a Sponsor
It is best to be sponsored by a member with whom you feel comfortable, attends meetings regularly, shares a similar life situation, and is of the same gender. You may look for a Sponsor at your home meeting or at virtual meetings. Find someone who has what you want, and ask them!
Becoming a Sponsor
If you know the value of a Sponsor to your own 12 Step work and recovery, you may feel gratitude for the Nar-Anon program and desire to share your experience, strength and hope with a new member.
Just as you are powerless over the addict, so too, are you powerless over your Sponsee. One of the best things you can do for the Sponsee is listen – really listen. Placing principles over personalities can free you to sponsor individuals to whom you might not have otherwise been drawn. Learning how to give to another what has been so freely given to you is a priceless lesson. As a Sponsor, you will find the Sponsee is not the only one who benefits. You will find that you learn and grow in your own personal recovery through a relationship with a Sponsee.