[navysteve]

Hello,
I have heard it said many times that there is no such thing as a bad meeting. I have never agreed with this and have often replied to those who say it that they don't go to enough meetings. I was at a meeting tonight where the speakers main theme was that "if you are not happy you are not working the program right". He then spoke about how the sixth and seventh steps imply that God will remove our defects not that we work on them ( that is almost verbatim for what he said not my interpretation). Now I believe that asking God to remove defects does not take away my responsibility to correct my behavior. He brought with him his fan club, which contained one old timer who loved to tell you how much time he had ( can you tell that annoys me?) Now, when I am in such a meeting and feel that I can bring nothing to it, I leave. Because in my opinion it is not an AA meeting. Why do I feel that way. At an AA meeting, we share our experience, strength and hope. We do not dictate how others should feel. We do not tell them how the steps will work for them. We share our experience, strength and hope....
Now I have played the role of AA police. When folks have shared in ways I believe is unhealthy, I have appointed myself protector of the message and shared to straighten them out ( this is not my place).
I also do not buy into the psycho-babble bull that no matter how bad a meeting is, I can find a message if I choose to, or that I should see what I could bring to the meeting. I am speaking at a meeting tomorrow night ( I don't get offended if people walk out on me) and I am thinking of responsibility as a topic, responsibility to share our experience, strenght and hope. I think that is our greatest tool. In the past I have decreed myself to be an expert on many subjects related to recovery. I have been a relationship expert, theologian etc...
Today, thanks to the 12 steps I have been freed, and, like a bad movie, I am free to walk out if the meeting sucks. And some of them suck real bad