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| | #1 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: UK
Posts: 1,373
| Meetings
Why is it that sometimes - often - a meeting can just make us feel a whole lot better? I went to one last night, became a newcomers meeting. It felt magical. Using "magical" as shorthand for "stuff happens for which I have no adequate explanation, primarily because I don't have an education in group psychology". I dunno. There is so much benefit in the power of fellowship, maybe because our condition is one of such loneliness? Aloneness? Sometimes, when I look back on my drinking and the life that went with that, I felt so incomplete. Separate. I can still feel like that, if I don't work on the "maintenance of my spiritual condition" - to borrow an AA metaphor. And then, at a meeting, I can be reminded, in a hug or a quiet word, or in the honest shares of my friends for the ketotic newcomer, that it doesn't have to be like that.
__________________ It all works. It IS simple Miss C Give up hope of a better past. |
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| | #2 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: .
Posts: 299
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Thanks for that Paul. Lovely little post. "Honest" jumped out at me from it. Haven't been to an AA meeting in quite a while, but when I did, there were days when I was so moved I could have cried all the way home, just at the sense of people trying sincerely to lay aside the bullshit and posturing and competition and fronting - or just the banality - of so much of what and how we communicate every day. No such thing as *complete* sincerity, or honesty, I suppose, but that's not the point: to be in the presence of a warm, easy, focussed effort to speak freely and openly is quite something. And that this communication happens not just for its own sake, but to help alleviate others' suffering. That's magic too. Then there's a sort of present-ness, you know? I eat really badly - always too fast, gobbling the food down like someone was going to take it away. Too many meals eaten alone maybe. Anyway, I've taken to pausing before I eat, just for a few seconds, to concentrate on what I'm going to eat, to be happy that I have some good food to fill me up, that I'm not hungry, to appreciate the taste of it and the feeling of filling myself up, to be aware of what I'm doing and content that I'm doing it. (A kind of atheist's grace before meals, natch.) What's that to do with AA? Well, I guess I wanted to say that a meeting is a kind of pause-into-the-present like that too, but a pause together. And, again, not just for its own sake, or for my own sake, but personal and more than personal, at the same time. |
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| | #5 (permalink) |
| Seriously Fun! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: California coast
Posts: 415
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I always feel much better (most of the time) when I go to a meeting. And for me it really is simple. I love being with a group of people who understand me, and share similar histories of addiction. It helps me so very much to know I am not alone. And yes...the love and laughter help so very much! |
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| | #6 (permalink) |
| survivor Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Portage, Mi
Posts: 5
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yeah' I used to love my NA meetins. the love and support I felt was good enough to keep me sober and clean for another day. Lately, I have been resistant to attending because I can not locate a rational recovery group or one with out the God dependency. My recovery is humanistic and the help I give and receive comes from humans and is for humans. I get caught up in the continuous God training I hear at these meetings and it distracts me from the purpose of why I am there. To get help and give it. |
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| | #7 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: in the present moment
Posts: 2,061
| Quote:
hmmmmmm.I often wonder too, what is *it* that happens in a group of drunks who are not drinking, gathering together to connect in a singleness of purpose. I think thats *it*!! A group of drunks, who are not drinking.....a sober drunk which in itself is a miracle, thus compounded by the number of bodies present at any meeting.............there's some juice right there and getting these sober mracles of mental health to gather together for an hour with a singleness of purpose, which is to help one another. now, that is powerful. sitting in the presence of this is like being metal shavings sitting near to a strong magnet. in a meeting, i am able to rivet my attentionally deficient sieve of a brain in a focused way, unlike any other part of my day. this, in turn, relaxes my brain and softens my humanness. and did i mention, it feels good?
__________________ i close my eyes and see clearly i stop trying to listen and hear truth i am silent and my heart sings i seek no contact and find union i am still and move forward i am gentle and need no strength i am humble and remain whole (ancient taoist meditation) | |
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| | #8 (permalink) | |
| ٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ | Quote:
Me too. I like to remind my self the real reason I am sober: help from caring others. Thats why I choose groups at the clinic. I'm not distracted by mythology and all that confusing stuff that goes with it. I just want to get sober not converted into myth beliefs.
__________________ My ❀ Name ☯ Is ❤ Will G ☞ 禅 “Our minds are information vacuums. Either we fill them with thoughts of our choosing or someone else will.” ― Ray Davis | |
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| | #9 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coconut Creek, FL
Posts: 13
| Quote:
I can completely identify with every word. Personally, I am into Eastern Mysticism -- Buddism, Taoism and Yoga. None of these mention the word God, which I just don't believe in, but are practical paths to living this life in the here and now! | |
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| | #11 (permalink) |
| ٩(-̮̮̃•̃)۶ |
Windy....lol. I went to a meeting the other day and thought there was going to be a baptism afterward. I guess some meetings really focus on God.
__________________ My ❀ Name ☯ Is ❤ Will G ☞ 禅 “Our minds are information vacuums. Either we fill them with thoughts of our choosing or someone else will.” ― Ray Davis |
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| | #15 (permalink) | |
| Huntington's Disease Awareness Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Cook County, Ill
Posts: 2,594
| Quote:
For me, my HP in recovery is my notebook of SMART tools. Although I'm religious my recovery is Secular. When it comes to the one thing that gives me the ability to fight my addiction, its the notebook of directions and tools I've downloaded from the SMART Website. Maybe someone else can share their Secular HP?
__________________ Copyright © 2005 - 2012 Shockozulu | |
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| | #18 (permalink) | |
| Huntington's Disease Awareness Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Cook County, Ill
Posts: 2,594
| Quote:
__________________ Copyright © 2005 - 2012 Shockozulu | |
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| | #19 (permalink) | |
| Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Castaic, CA
Posts: 1
| Quote:
Now I've evolved my higher power into what I call my "god-self". I'm still an atheist but I think there is something true and pure in all of us that knows right from wrong. That what I'm trying to tap into these days. | |
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| | #20 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Hereford, UK
Posts: 87
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I love my meetings -- in some ways I do thimk the willingness, and expectations of community and readiness to identify will in part determine the quality of one's experience of the meetings. The more I participate the more involved I feel. Simple really. Love Mala |
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| | #22 (permalink) |
| Seriously Fun! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: California coast
Posts: 415
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Oh Windy....you crack me up so much. I think I am going to try and find a Smart meeting around here. I know they are here somewhere. Thanks for that link, Alera. But being a female that needs to feel the "positive vibes" of lots of love and compassion...meetings do nurture my lonely heart. And I have no fear of them getting me to believe in some thinking enity. Just not going to happen. |
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| | #23 (permalink) |
| Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: new york
Posts: 10
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im happy to report that this past april 12 was my one year anniversary of sobriety. i have been going to MA meetings and really find it rewarding. Its important to work the program and it feels good. here are the keys ive found to easily working the program and achieving sobriety. 1- attend meetings at least once a week. 2-get a sponsor. 3-take on commitments. 4-use the phone. 5-decide you want it and live off the power of getting your way with yourself. staying straight for yourself feels so good its like being super duper high. marijuana-anonymous.org thanks for letting me share thwartnot |
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| | #24 (permalink) |
| Living in sobriety Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,868
| Stuff happens for me too Paul and I get an enormous sense of well being. I also love fellowship and no longer feel alone. But there are so many other benefits for me ....the list is endless. Im really looking forward to my meeting in the morning, I always hear something I need to hear and I may also get a chance to help someone ......and thats one sure way to take me out of self!!
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| | #25 (permalink) |
| Member |
another thing for my list.....i need to be at more meetings....and i do mean BE at...not just sitting in the chair ![]() Glad this post came back up....i'm stuggling to stay centered these days...I went to a meeting Wedneday and i sat and thoughtt about other stuff almost the entire time....The reading was one of my favorites, but all I could hear when i bothered to tune in was the things i don't like that people say instead of the commonality. I really seem to connect better when people share the exact expereince...the details of a particular situation, what they did and what happened than to genaric shares mostly straight from the book...sorta a rah rah the program works...nothing i can really grasp... I seem to have no focus on helping others in meetings...seem to have gotten myself stopped up in that respect! Going to my homegroup tonight, and i seem to get more and give more in those meetings...so hopefully that will help me get back on track.... anyways..just where i am at in meetings...problem, not connecting, solution, go to places where that is more likely to happen and pay attention a little more
__________________ Copyright © 2010 - 2010 Ananda ![]() You can't stop living just because it hurts a little - Ananda's Mom |
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