“Even a foolish King can win a battle with good advisors.”
Paul at a meeting in Gulf Shores, Alabama
Good advisors can give anyone a great advantage. In the Program, we have several advisory advantages.
Advisors are essential benefits of the Program. There are two critical advisor advantages that we receive by being part of the Fellowship of AA. And a third advisor advantage from being on a spiritual path.
The first advisory advantage from the Program life is the simple fact that sober people now surround us. I benefit from the judgement and advice of my Fellow AAs. Their judgment may not always be perfect, but their thinking is sounder than my old barstool companions. They are in the main, committed to spiritual growth. Therefore, the odds of getting good advice from my AA Fellows are much higher than my odds of getting useful help from my former drinking buddies.
I could almost suggest that there is a separate advisory advantage in having a sponsor and a Home Group, but a better perspective might be to argue that having a sponsor and a Home Group is just part of being a member of the Fellowship. In any case, separate from the first advisor advantage or included in the first, we have sponsors and Home Groups who know our history and can call us on our BS. In my experience, this is a huge advantage.
The second advisory advantage comes from the fact that my head is clearer, and my feelings are better managed; that is, that I am sober. I am better able to receive advice. If I ask for help and advice, I am much more explicit about the facts of the situation and circumstance. I have a clear understanding of the problems I face. Being sober, I am better able to consider the source, better able to judge the advice, and better able to integrate the advice coherently. My sobriety magnifies the advisory advantage of the Fellowship.
Sober in the Fellowship, “I will have good advisers,” and I will receive the advice better. Consequently, I’m likely to win more battles.
There is a third benefit, not as much associated with the Fellowship; more related to spiritual growth.
That is the Counsel of a Higher Power. I have the Big Power available to guide me and set the right direction. With knowledge of His will for me, I will intuitively know how to handle situations that used to baffle me, and God will do for me what I could not do for myself.
So, I can, as a foolish King, win more battles because of my Program life. I have an advisory advantage.
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