Don't drink, Go to meetings, get a home group, and get a sponsor
I have this thing bugging me. Everytime I hear the spoken words it is like fingernails on a blackboard. I am posting to get it off my chest but also as a reality check.
The words:
Don't drink, Go to meetings, get a home group, and get a sponsor.
in other words (mine)... a prescription for white knuckle sobriety...
How about (instead) get honest, find God, clean house, keep it clean, Grow your relationship with God.
So what do meetings, a sponsor, a home group... have to do with that?
Meetings are a lazy way to make sure you get a good well rounded diet of concepts to ponder. Like a spiritual booster shot... Also it is an easy way to work with other Alcoholics.
Sponsor... helps you get honest, stay honest... perhaps helps you find God... supports you while you clean house... make sure you don't throw out the baby with the bathwater... etc...
Home group? ...
Alright... my point is that it isn't the point. It is like telling a man with insomnia to go to the store (to presumably buy a pillow)... instead of saying get some sleep.
It is really no skin off my back if folks want to say such things. I just cringe because I worry the new guy gets the wrong idea. Or perhaps it is the right idea and I am just off center.