Mountainmanbob

I agree with Ken there the program is not perfect but I have benefited from it a lot.

Step 12 had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps? Well personally I believe that a spiritual awakening is a gift of God and it's not necessarily brought on by doing the steps.

I know several who have worked the steps many times and show no signs of ever having a spiritual awakening.

Mountainman

Ken33xx

That was my experience. I can't really explain it. But after leaving my first AA meeting I was walking by myself down the street and felt I didn't have to drink anymore. The desire was just gone.

Again hard to explain but that's what happened.

tomsteve

yup, its perfect in its imperfections.
i think theres something in the bb that says something to the point that we only know a little.
is there something in the 12&12 in the traditions saying we know its not perfect,too?

FBL

Glad to hear you're doing well.

I never even really looked into AA. I've relied on family, friends and mostly SR.

That said, I know many people that have greatly benefited from AA (including my own father).

The bottom line is that there are many options out there nowadays and I say use whatever works for you.

LadyBlue0527

I didn't get AA last time either when I managed 17 months of sobriety. Hit step 4 and stopped. I believe that was at about month 5 or 6. Walked away and just like you did ok for a while. Then, came the next rock bottom which will be the last.

This time through I don't care about "getting it". I'm shutting up, doing the steps, and listening. I'm not inflicting my own thoughts when someone speaks. There's a reason they are there just like there's a reason I am there, they are working their program. It's not for me to decide if they're doing it right or saying the right things.

AA is teaching me that all this time the problem isn't others. It's ME. Once I accepted that and let go the true peace came. I'm learning to get over myself and working on being a useful human being. Life has never been better, the grinding has stopped.

I support anyone's right to find the program of choice that works for them. If you're sober and happy, so be it. AA is not for everyone but for those who do "get it" it's quite amazing. Without the steps and giving yourself to them "getting it" will never happen.

Gottalife

I relate to these comments. People in AA share their experience. Your sponsor's experience is the same as mine. Alcoholics of my type who don't do the steps come to a sticky end. Every single person in my recpvery group that didn't take the steps was dead inside a year, and all those that did, three of us, are still sober today. What he told you was what was true for him.

I had another chap, a very angry one, tell me that I could not be recovered from alcoholism. What he meant was that he could not recover. He drank that night.

The "social aspect" I call rejoining the human race, was a principle benefit of the AA program. By three years sober, I had interests, friends, and good career prospects all outside of AA. That has continued to develop and today I have more non AA friends than I can count. Perhaps the results of our respective different paths ahve been different also.

I very much agree that alcoholism is on a spectrum, mainly because that is what the authorities on the subject tell us. Depending on where you are on the spectrum, you treatment options may be different at least in terms of preventing further progression.

Folks sometimes say the AA program would be a good thing for everyone to live by. They may have a point in the sense that it goes a lot further than merely creating the circumstances for abstinence. It also seems to be a good recipe for successfu living.

MLD51

"Folks sometimes say the AA program would be a good thing for everyone to live by. They may have a point in the sense that it goes a lot further than merely creating the circumstances for abstinence. It also seems to be a good recipe for successful living. "

I say this a lot to people who ask me what AA is like. I tell them the big book and the steps are about a lot more than abstinence. Abstinence is just the beginning - it's the first step in being able to put your life together in a better and more meaningful way. The steps help give us the tools to do that. I'm not an AA robot - but I sure have met some along the way. I let them work their program the way it works for them. I work mine the way it works for me. I go to one, maybe two meetings a week now. I have found a home group that works perfectly for me. I haven't memorized the big book or the 12x12. I use what works for me and leave the rest. I refuse to be ruled by fear, and don't buy into the idea that if I don't go to "enough" meetings or do "enough" service work I'm doomed to fail, relapse and have a horrible life. AA is a big part of my toolbox for building a better life, but it's far from the only thing I use.

mfanch

" After ******* my life up with booze and drugs last year, I had to move back in with my parents with a condition that I start doing AA."

I "had" to go to AA to avoid jail. I "had" to go to AA to get my license back. I "had" to go to AA to get the support of my family. Yadda-yadda. I would go and endure meetings until the heat was off....invariably, I would end up back where I was.

When I decided I was ready to get clean and ready to do whatever it took, I went to AA because I wanted to work the steps (which is the suggested program of recovery per the BB). I did it without any strings attached (job, place to live, partner, money...). I needed to be out there flopping around in misery to get "done" with it and be receptive to AA and its message. Our literature states we can get sober whatever our circumstances and I did just that.

Going to AA as part of an ultimatum never worked for me. Some people do it though. I applaud them, but I was never able to do it. Good luck to you and I hope that it works out.

Glad you are here. :-)