What Kind of Example?

I can be a living example or a dying example of how the program works. (Voices of Recovery, page 16)

Sometimes I'm an eagle, others a grackle.
Sometimes my life is marvelous,
a magnet for others, a delight for me,
wondrous in richness and depth.
Other times, I go through the motions,
or don't, finding an excuse, an "emergency"
that wouldn't meet the Webster's definition,
just bad planning on my part. My willingness
gone, I find myself praying - if at all -
not for willingness but for willingness to be
willing.  Stinking thinking creeps in,
tricking me to self-reliance, to minimal effort,
too close to the riptide, daring destiny.
But when I come to meetings anyway,
especially when I'd rather not,
the tide turns, and I'm glad I came,
and grateful to each who shares
salvation and recovery
reminding me
what I want to choose.