What keeps you coming back?

[Chy]

What is the reason that you feel is the reason as to why you participate in this forum? Is it to learn, give support, see how others do it, look at various perspectives? I assume a large percentage of members that visit SR in this particular forum are members of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous while the others are curious and hope to better understand, get information and see how it works. So if a newcomer was to ask you, "why this forum?" "Whats so great about it?" "Why AA?"....how would you respond in sharing your ESH as to why you keep coming back?

[Gooch]

same thing that kept me coming back to the bar all thise years........all my friends are here.

[tyler]

When I first came here I was lost and looking for a way out. It took me awhile to find something that worked for me and getting input from the folks here has been, and continues to be, a big help. I keep comming back for the support I get here and the desire to give back to the community that has helped me so much. I also feel that I represent a minority opinion when it comes to my chosen path to recovery, so if I can help someone who has felt like I did in the past it makes me feel good. In truth, I would say my reasons for comming here are mostly selfish. When I help someone here it makes me feel good. When I am looking for support, it also makes me feel good. So I guess the bottom line is I come here because it makes me feel good. I am guilty of getting caught up in some of the petty arguments and issues that arise from time to time, but I am learning to just take a step back when that happens and not go away entirely. A big thank you to SR for all you have given me.

[Phinneas]

Originally Posted by tyler

I keep comming back for the support I get here and the desire to give back to the community that has helped me so much.

Yup.

I found SR in my early days of recovery and I will have a year next month. In this time I have made friends and received countless beautiful words of support and widsom. I care about this community and the people in it. My f2f regular AA meeings and SR are the cornerstones of my recovery.

I consider SR to be family.

hugs,

phinny

[Pernell Johnson]

You know I have thought a lot about that lately. The face of SR has changed a lot since the first days. There are a greatmany more people with more stories and need for support, understanding and reaching out to be touched by someone they can identify with.

As I recover from addiction. I have always been a student of the psychological and the things people say and do. I feel that I have much to offer with my experience in and out of aadiction although sometimes the newbies make me wonder. I guess what really makes me come back is my people are here, my friends are here and I am a part of the beginning and the fabric of this great site.

[Dan]

I showed up in an AA meeting a few weeks ago, in a new city. Didn't know a soul there.
But they knew me.
My people, like Pernell said.

[Irish Virus]

I visit this forum because I am a drunk who attends AA meetings. Whether it is to learn, ask questions ect..., this forum deals specifically with my problem. King Alcohol. I don't have to sift through posts to find what I'm looking for.

[Chance]

I for myself hope that if I keep coming back here that maybe someday I will finally hear what I need to hear to be cured LOL and from what I understand is that this will never happen, but I wish that someday I won't have to be my own prisoner, and that I will be able to give away something positive to someone else, even if it is just a little hope. I have a long way to go and I don't know if I will ever get to where I want to be, but I will try for one more day.


Love vic

[best]

I showed up to share what little knowledge I had.
I stayed because I have gained and continue to gain from ALL who show up here and share.
I say I come to share but I find that when I try to share I become the one who is learning and growing.

[Jerry K]

I incorporated this forum early on into my recovery plan and program. I keep coming back to keep focused, share my situation, offer whatever help I can, and to continue to learn.

Recovery is a life long journey, and this is just one of the wheels that takes me through the process.

[blueyes78]

I come to learn, share, & grow. It's good to relate to others that are going through the same things and see their views on issues.

[nogard]

I keep coming back because a large part of my sobriety is here, I get and I hope give support, have fun and keep sane here and at meetings.

nogard

[CarolD]

• To share the joy and blessings AA has given me
• To increase my knowledge
• To read the AA Thought and Big Book Quote
• Because I live in the 'each one reach one' philosophy
• And it's great fun!

[jlo34]

Initially, I found this site after a devastating work injury that landed me on valium for a month and Percocet for 5 months. When getting off Percocet - I had a really hard time. I found this site and I found help. I posted and right away several hands reached out to me. I was embarrassed and very choosy with whom I shared "my issues" with at my AA meetings, since I had 13+ years at the time. I had never had issues with narcotics and was very frightened, very depressed, and suicidal.

Through the hands that helped me; a few became very good friends and we regularly PM'd one another. We visited in the chat rooms too.

I became "addicted" to this site for quite some time; spending nearly all day and night on it; then slowly things started getting better...and I found I didn't "need" this site like I did then, though I would visit daily and read. It helped me to try to help others.

Then I started getting a look at the controversy, the nit-picking and I was appalled. Then some members who really helped me out a lot (the hands that reached out to me) were banned; still not entirely sure why other than perhaps they spoke the AA message a bit strongly. Irritated me, so I "banned" myself for a while. I'm at peace with that now; I realize that this is NOT an official AA site. I respect the rules and judgment of whomever decided who can stay and who needs to go.

Additionally, I was tired of the whole "God issue" in the AA forum, which kept me away for a while. I have no problem with my spirituality and I got tired of reading how AA is this religious cult, blah blah blah. AA has saved my life. I'm still not entirely sure where the whole religion thing is with AA, but I also need to remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, saying that, I don't understand why people who don't want to practice the steps of AA - the program of AA feel the need to post in the AA forum. Anyway...

I'm grateful this site is here. It saved and helped me when I was going through a tremendously difficult time in my life. Had it not been for the additional support I received here; I'm not positive I'd be breathing today. Thank you SR for being here. Thank you everyone for also being here.

God bless,
Jen

[BaBa OReiley]

Originally Posted by Chy

So if a newcomer was to ask you, "why this forum?" "Whats so great about it?" "Why AA?"....how would you respond in sharing your ESH as to why you keep coming back?

great thread chy!

why this forum? well first off because i'm an Alcoholic (notice the capitol a), what's so great about the alcoholics anonymous forum is that for the most part it deals with alcoholics from the AA perspective, and that's what works for me.

i can't always get to a meeting so i come here to read about others ES&H, and sometimes to share my own.

in this forum i can share about things i wouldn't or couldn't share at F2F meetings because of my fear of reprisals, this forum is TRULY anonymous if i choose it to be.

i keep coming back to read others pains, that shows me mine are not that important all the time, i come here to hear people whine, it reminds me not to!

i come here for amusement, i find great amusement in the way people debate AA, sometimes it seems like they are the only ones with the info or they know the behind the scenes stuff, LOL, and that greatly helps me to be humble in the real world.

i come here as a tool to my sobriety, never a day goes by that i don't utilize or learn something from this forum.

i come here to read the bashers of AA's rant, it reminds me of where i was not so long ago, thanks people! and remember........"keep coming back"

i also come here because of the wonderful people here who give me strength when i am weak, couage when i am scared, comfort when i am confused, love when i feel alone, forgivenness when i behave like an a$$, understanding when i am unreasonable, hugs when i am hurting (believe it or not you really can feel a cyber (((HUG))) if you choose to), i come here because i want to.

[findingout]

I keep coming back because SR in general and this forum in particular help to keep me sober. I need the experience, strength and hope. I need the good, the bad, and (sometimes) ugly. All of it makes me think and grow in my recovery. I need to chase the leading edge of my recovery by sharing life with other alcoholics who are doing the same thing. SR is one of the places where I can find them.

I didn't get sober in a vacuum and if I want another three years (9-23-2002), I believe I'd best keep doing what I have been doing for the past three years.

One Love, One Heart,
Tony

[lulu70]

Originally Posted by findingout

I keep coming back because SR in general and this forum in particular help to keep me sober. I need the experience, strength and hope. I need the good, the bad, and (sometimes) ugly. All of it makes me think and grow in my recovery. I need to chase the leading edge of my recovery by sharing life with other alcoholics who are doing the same thing. SR is one of the places where I can find them.

(((((((((Tony)))))))) You said it way better than I could have. SR has been an invaluable tool in my recovery. I spend a LOT of time here. I suppose it has become an addiction of sorts. However, I believe it is a healthy addiction because it keeps the pain and misery of using and drinking fresh in my mind. It helps me remember what I am doing and why. Also, I love all you people. You know me and I know you..... That is a powerful thing.

Why the AA forum in particular? Well, mostly because AA is my chosen program of recovery. I get a lot from the questions, problems and experiences of other members. I learn something new every day. And I see it as a way to keep giving back.

Thanks for the thread, Chy. It's a goodie!

Love and hugs to all--

[livenletlive]

Originally Posted by Chy

...to learn, give support, see how others do it, look at various perspectives

For me, Chy, it is a combo of all you listed. I also come here for a suppliment to my daily program. I am in AA and many times when I call my support group I get an answering machine. Sometimes it is better for me to come leave a message on their machine and leave a message here on SR to see what I am thinking in words. I like to come here to give support, because I consider myself a better writer than speaker, so my true feelings come out when I write things down.

Of course, the main reason I come here is to help me stay sober.

[51anna]

I keep coming back to SR because it is my lifeline, my source of nourishment for mind, body and soul. Sometimes I give and sometimes I take, but there always something here to inspire me to move forward and to be a better person.

[Chy]

As a newcomer when I first arrived to AA I had many, many questions, uncertainties and insecurities if this was going to work for me. I read everything the members here shared and learned more and more from you the members. I had read the BB several times and still had questions on how it works.

Slowly but surely my confidence in the program began to build and I felt " a part of " something which I hadn't in many years. The warmth and understanding of my homegroup and the support and knowledge of the oldtimers here helped me to grow in my program. I didn't understand growth until I watched it here.

I must admit though for several months I avoided this particular forum as I didn't want what was going on, I didn't understand it as I had not witnessed the unpleasantness part of the program. I to this day have not experienced it in my home group. So you can understand my sadness and frustration as to understanding the negative perspectives here.

But I continue to grow, learn and realize as well as accept all walks of life that come into the fellowship. I extend the hand and if they want it I'll help if they don't or are not ready it's okay to. Now I keep coming back because there is more that is yet to be revealed....and as my dear friend Music reminded me, my roots in sobriety are in AA.

[FriendofBill]

Hi everyone,

I come here to AA forum not because Im alcoholic, Im not.

I come because I love an alcoholic.

The people here remind me that this disease is not a choice. That there is hope and help for alcoholics. That in how you have taken responsiblity for your lives, so may, one day, the alcoholic that I love, will too.

I get compassion and understanding from you guys. I am forever indebted to the men and women of Alcoholics Anonymous who cared for my husband when he was sober, and now care for me, in my own recovery.

[jmhs002]

Being an alcoholic got me to this site. This is the first place that I found where I "admitted" that I was an alcoholic. I originally came here when I was still drinking. I left, went back to drinking for a while, then came back.

I come back to read, to learn, to know that I am not alone in my challenges, to add another piece to my foundation of recovery (I go to AA too), and I hope to add a little hope to other alcoholics who are as afraid of looking in the mirror as I was when I first stumbled on to this site.
JMHS

[collinsmi]

As long as my computer works and I have an internet connection, I can talk with other members of AA! I work a night shift, and this means a lot to me.

[Jaguar0425]

I come here to SR because it helps me stay connected to the program of AA during my work day. I found this place by doing a search about Alcoholism after I took the 20 question test and failed (I got 19 of 20)about 1 1/2 years ago. The people here welcomed me and answered my questions. They allowed me to cry and walked with me through my fear. Eventually they helped me find my first face to face AA meeting. The program saved my life. I go to a meeting every morning and spend time here every afternoon. I hope I can help someone like me one day.

[sobatoday]

I keep coming back because I can sit in the comfort of my home and read all your great sharing.
Love in sobriety Sobatoday