PurpleDan

Letitgo, yes the steps could be worked "virtually"...I'd do it with a sponsee, but it would have to involve Skype or Facetime, or some such video-conferencing system.

The steps can be worked through in one day, or over a few years. I would strongly suggest not doing the latter, from personal experience. It depends on the sponsor and how willing is the sponsee.

AA meetings are just about everywhere, so unless you're travelling to remote, desolated areas, you should be able to find and attend meetings when travelling. I would suggest finding one meeting nearer home that you can attend on as regular a basis as possible.

I appreciate you have a need to spend time with your family, but if you don't have recovery/sobriety, what's the point?

letitgo

Great points PurpleDan. I have attended meetings in numerous states. Maybe 6-10 counting last year. I should have reached out for a sponsor. But I beleive i can stay sober without being a full blown member for now. I will likely attend some meetings on my trip and try to find a local sponsor when i get back to start working with.

letitgo

I had the pleasure to attend another AA meeting. I felt like a kid in those scared straight shows. People talking about dui's and prison time. This big scary looking dude all tatted up said you better get to know god because you cant do this alone.
At first i think i have done this alone. But then i remember he isnt talking about god in a Christian fire and brimestone sense. So i orginally misinterpreted the higher power or god. Ultimately i think he is right. I am sick in the head being an alkie. I need a spritual guide and fellowship to keep me sober. I can not become complacent. I was close minded at first but i think he meant well now that i understand his purpose and point.

Berrybean

You're doing bloody great Letitgo.

It takes a while to get used to all that 'God Speak' and realise how differently it's alluded to compared with some of what has been dictated to us in the past. I know some people who came in with a massive issue with religion (often having been through a dictatorial and judgemental religion based schooling) and I knew that if they could do this thing, then so could I. And I'm so pleased I did.

Yesterday I was very happy to mentally and spiritually join the Harvest celebrations. In this program we do the work and reap the rewards (spiritually). I'm definitely feeling the benefit of my toil in that regard, Working the steps has led to so much gratitude from my small corner.

ardy

Thanks all so much.. a very hard day to day.. this has helped a bit.. May be not so much there is a God.. just that in hold each other tight the time of passage from here to the next plane is easier.. or the day of birth .. the joy is spread to so many.. I don't know.. just seems that if there was a God watching out for us.. he would try and have the balance in our lives happen just a little more when we are trying to hard to balance all of the World from crashing down on us.... prayers to all ardy...

letitgo

Everywhere i go they try to save my soul. Coincidence or not? i have no clue.

leftzing

The great thing about the program is you are free to define your higher power however you want too. The way I look at it is I can chose to follow what the universe has in store for me or reject it. I still take my will back all the time, even though I have worked the steps and am pretty solid in my first step. I also really over complicate things, when I first got sober I really thought I had to "understand God". Now, I just take it easy and do my part. I have almost a friendship with my higher power nowadays. It is something that I can depend on, call on when struggling, thank when things are going well etc etc.

For me, its just easier to let my HP reveal itself to me and it does all the time. I just moved and great things and people are being put into my life. Furthermore, I was in a relationship that ended up with the girl relapsing. This was very difficult for both me and her for several reasons, one of the major ones being that we were still in love and she had to cut contact off for awhile.

This plagued me for months, well last Saturday I ran into her and we really smoothed things out. It was a huge meeting (200 or so) and she sat two rows behind me. I now realize that I wasn't ready to see her again until that very day. Why? Because since I moved I have been hitting meetings daily and really applying the steps. Because of this, my HP is really working for me.

The 12 steps are as complicated as you make them. I am an intellectual, my job also requires me to have a very strong academic knowledge of addiction but when it comes to my own sobriety I know nothing and need to ask for help all the time.

Took me forever to realize that, but I am grateful I now do.

Basically, I am connected to my HP. I am not a Christian nor do I really believe in the Christian concept of God. I find my spirituality via the program and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Tommyh

it can be done but there are a few places where you may want to sit down f2f with someone.You can work it out