is this normal

Hi Guy. I am 20 months sober. I have not used A.A. this stretch. I do not like it. Never have. I have just flat out lost the obsession to drink and drug. I am very spiritual and meditate every day. I feel my higher power is to thank. Don't get me wrong, I have had some feelings of uncertainty,but for the most part I dont think about it. I sometimes want to go to a meeting just to have some friends around me but I do not dare say I do not like a.a. to them, or say I dont go.(they would tear me apart)! I'm just trying to find a circle of friends that do not drink. Do you think that is normal thinking? or am i just all messed up? Do you believe you have to have a 12 step program to get sober?

Thanks for your good post.

If my own recovery -- and attending to the experience of other recovering addicts and alcoholics -- has taught me anything, it's taught me to respect and honor our idiosyncratic routes to "wellness." If what you're doing works for you, hey, keep doing it! I truly don't have any dogmatic stance about AA -- I just have found, in my life, it's given me the widest, deepest and most illuminating route to consciousness (my synonym for sobriety). But I have known others who don't feel comfortable in 12 step programs -- and who've managed to stay sober in other ways. I talk about this a bit in my book SOBER & FREE, in fact -- and, again, I applaud anyone who's managed to forge ANY effective path through this bewildering woods.

It's lovely to hear you've forged a good path for yourself.

warmest regards,
Guy