Manz, it's great to hear that you've gone 5 days without a drink, and that you attended an AA meeting, even reluctantly. I'm sure there's a bit of reluctance on all of our parts to step into those rooms for the first time.
For the first couple months without alcohol, I dang near lived in the AA rooms. I went to noon meetings, 4pm, 5pm, 8pm, 10pm, 11pm...whatever was going on whenever I had free time. Being with people that understood where I've been and hearing their stories and sharing in their strength was so uplifting to me. Sure, some meetings were better than others (and some a lot worse than others), but I always took away at least 1 thing that I needed to hear from those meetings. And it's definitely worth the hour for that 1 thing.
I also really loved speaking with people before and after the meetings. That's where most of the AA work is done, outside the rooms.
To be perfectly honest, since my sponsor moved away and I lost my license, I've definitely been slipping on the AA meetings and Step Work. And I can tell because it's affecting other parts of my life. I haven't had a drink, but I have slipped back into so bad behaviors that I had when I was boozing. And lately the thoughts of a drink have become a little more frequent than in the past (though I haven't been to the edge or anything...I've learned to deal with those thoughts effectively, I think).
Thank you very much for your post. I've been dealing with some life issues lately, and probably not dealing with them in the best manner, and your post helped shed some light on my recent "difficulties" with life. I need to get myself back into the rooms and into the BB.
Again, great job on the 5 days and getting to a meeting. Hope you stick around a while. I look forward to sharing the journey with you.