Here are some principles thrown out for suggestion/feedback:

SA members commit themselves to SA Meetings. They attend every SA meeting they can. On time. Meetings; on time. Why this emphasis?

When those we hope will be there don’t show up or when the meeting is handled in a haphazard manner, there’s a feeling of What’s the use? A feeling of having been let down, that the secretary, leader, or other members don’t care and are not really a part of. And if there’s no feeling of mutual caring, then I can’t become a part of. How can I become a part of something that’s always shifting around? Then I don’t want to be a part of. And a feeling of separation and isolation comes into play — deadly for us.

Meetings starting on time are one of the legacies we’ve gotten from AA that works so well. One of the great disciplines we need in recovery. Instead of “doing our own thing,” which characterized our self-obsession, we submit to the group. We do what doesn’t come naturally: we commit ourselves to every meeting and to being on time. No matter what — wives, jobs, money…. We put the group first because we put our own sobriety first.

Our recovery cries out for support and structure in our individual lives. To have helter-skelter, catch-as-catch-can meetings, with officers coming in late, leaders not being sober and responsible to guidelines, members not showing up, and no form or focus on sobriety and the Steps, we eventually just fade away.

Commitment to sobriety is commitment to the fellowship of sobriety.