This past Christmas, as always, I dug out the extension cords I had so neatly wrapped up and put away a year ago. Within minutes, I found myself dealing with a tangled mess of wires. In frustration I asked the age-old question, “How could this happen when I was being so careful?”

Needless to say, I experience the same results when it comes to my addiction. No matter how careful I am while acting out, I find that sooner or later my life gets all tangled up in the turmoil of compulsion.

We had some rewiring done over the holidays, and I asked the electrician what he does to keep his cords from driving him nuts. He showed me one which was woven into a looped design that could be unwound very quickly. In fact, you can unwind only as much as you need, leaving the rest untouched. And the wonderful thing is, it absolutely never gets tangled up! I asked him to show me how to do it, which he did. The method involves a few simple steps which anyone can master.

What a beautiful analogy to the process of recovery through the Twelve Steps of SA. When we are willing to ask someone to help us who has more experience, strength, and hope than we do, we get the answers we need. Our sponsors and others show us how to take the simple Steps to untangle the awful mess in our lives, and to keep things that way.

The other day a neat thing happened. I was able to show my neighbor what I had learned about tangle-free extension cords. As I saw him smile at this newfound piece of knowledge, I thought about the joy I am beginning to experience as a sponsor. I get to see others with tangled-up lives learn how to straighten out the messes of their past and start putting things back together in a new way. I guess that’s what the Twelfth Step is all about.

Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to seeing how much easier decorating the house for Christmas will be next year. I believe I’ve found a way to do it with a little more serenity than in the past.