"Our public relations policy is based upon attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of radio, press, and films."
I am in a bit of a quandary with this tradition because had a noted celebrity not told his story on national television, I would not be here today. Yes, it is true that we should maintain our anonymity in the media, but in today's world, that is becoming more and more difficult to do.
I must never break the trust of another person by revealing to the outside world, the identities of those in recovery.
Furthermore, I cannot drag someone into the fellowship who needs us. It doesn't work that way. This fellowship is for those who want us, not for those that need us.
All the years that I drank, people told me that I was in trouble and that I should get help. No one in the fellowship tried to take it upon themselves to save me. I would have run the other way. I fought until the last for my "freedom" to drink as I saw fit. That freedom enslaved me. It consumed me. I lost everything.
When I had lost all, when there was nothing left to cling to, then…and only then, was I ready to seek help. When I sought it, when I wanted it, help was there. I didn't have to look far.
There were people with decades of recovery behind them and a few with scant minutes more that I had - all reaching out to help me. People that I had known for years were there. People that I never saw before became mentors and friends.
This would not be possible in the public eye. There is a sigma about failure: most especially if it is alcohol induced. It inhibits the growth process. We cannot expect someone to go into those dark places of the soul that we must in order to recover, if we have to go there with an audience.
It was hard enough for me to admit the truth to myself, much less the whole world. (Not that they hadn't seen me at my worst already)
As time went on I was able to share my new life in sobriety with my family, close friends. This was crucial because they had to understand the changes in my life I must make and why. It directly affected them.
Today my life is an open book, but I still maintain my anonymity to be of service to others.
Tradition Twelve |
