I have relied and continue to rely on AA for my past almost 8 years of sobriety, yet the comments by ShawMac strike a very deep and sympathetic chord in me.
I have no idea if my random thoughts will be of any value to you Shaw Mac but it is often a challenge to go within myself at meetings and remember that the concepts, steps, and traditions are firmly grounded in truth. I also have to remind myself that most of the principles of AA are not original to the fellowship. They are simply the "distilled" truths that those who have gone before me and achieved a harmony with life and they have left these truths for me to use when trying to achieve the same peace in my life.
In the last several years I have winnowed out a handful of AA meetings and folks in those meetings with whom I find a kindred spirit. Most of the people that I meet in AA are not my "cup of tea" but my behavior toward them and some of their thoughts that I find foolish and silly, is the way that I measure my growth and hopefully my compassion.
It was my "all about me attitude" during my drinking days that kept me drunk. I am nothing more today than a little better than the day I quit in 1999. I hope to be better yet in the future. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING magic about AA, and just as there is nothing magic about the basketball that Michael Jordan used, the magic was in THE WAY HE USED IT.
That is one weird analogy, but it was the best I could come up with at this late hour. Whatever path you chose I pray it will be the right one for you.
Be good to yourself,
Jon