In the recovery circles that I devoted myself to for many years, there was a real emphasis on being of service. There still is.
And while I do believe that those of us who are privileged enough to have found recovery need to pay things forward, I think that we need to do it in a balanced way. For the first period of my recovery, I volunteered to chair multiple meetings per week, sat on group committees, started an area service committee in my basement, and even held a position on a national board.
Ironically, it was an entry in a daily meditation book that transformed how I thought about service. That entry, from the Narcotics Anonymous Just for Today book, basically suggested that our families don't benefit from our recovery if we are never home to share it with them, that rushing out to meetings every night of the week might still feel like abandonment to them.
Practicing the principles of recovery in all our affairs means paying attention to the people at home, perhaps even first and foremost, when being of service. Showing up for ourselves in recovery and helping others in or seeking recovery is important, but recovery matters at home too.
Full stop. We recover for ourselves but also for those we love.