Originally Posted by
spark42 
Good luck at the alternative meetings Katie09, hope it goes well!
I attend aa once a week, a "living sober meeting". I sometimes attend others if i feel the need for it.
It took a while for me attending various ones to find meetings that were a bit more laid back and don't push the religious side etc too much.
Even at those, if i get someone preaching at me or trying to convert me i try not to get into a debate with them. I just agree to disagree and leave it - either out loud or just in my head!
On the whole i think it is entirely possible to find meetings that you're comfortable in - i have a lot of aa friends too, and only occasionally have to deal with someone telling me i must do the steps or must find god.
I'd recommend trying a living sober meeting if they have one near you. The living sober book seems to me to be a much more practical guide on living a sober life and not religious, and the meeting sort of follows that theme.
Thanks, I've looked at the list here and never seen a living sober meeting. I will try one more place and that's in the college part of town. Maybe there I could find SOMEONE who I could relate to. I had a friend who moved down here from the SF Bay Area I met at an AA meeting. He had 11 years of sobriety at the time. He left after two months and told me he didn't know if he could have remained sober living and going to AA here. I think that speaks volumes.
One thing I do plan to do today is to go to a Nicotine Anonymous meeting for my smoking. I don't know how it is with those meetings, but I am crossing my fingers that just maybe it might be different. There are only three of those here a week, but I will give it a try.