The broken old filing cabinet.

One night after a meeting I found an old filing cabinet outside where I live it had been discarded and was ready for the rubbish dump.

I looked at it closely and realised it used to be a really good one it was sturdy but broken and no use to anyone ,I could of ignored it but there was something interesting about it .

I carted it up the stairs and brought it into my home.

The next day I phoned my sponsor who was working on some cool furniture pieces at the time and he took it off me as a possible side project.
He stripped it down rebuilt it and painted it with some really distinct art effects and turned it into an awesome fully functioning one off piece of artwork .

Then he gave it back to me as a gift and I was really grateful and happy with it and took it home again .

As I looked at it for the second time I realised that this was still the broken down filing cabinet I found outside my block but after my sponsor worked his magic it had become a completely new functional one off piece of work that had a lot of character and was useful once more .Just like me.

My sponsor has rebuilt me with the 12 steps when no one else wanted to or thought there was anything worth saving inside me and now I am useful once more a bit of a character a lot older but still something new and better .I thought I was destined for the rubbish dump as well.
It doesn’t matter how far down you have gone AA can rebuild you and breathe life back into you .

That broken down old filing cabinet is now my prized possession and where I keep my gratitude books and my AA literature.

Andrew H, Road To Recovery, Plymouth, February 2026