LaFemme, thank you for posting this and congrats to you on your 6mos. I'm not a christian by any means, but the higher power/God thing has never bothered me. I am also not anti-AA. But I've been looking at my alcoholism straight in the face for a little while now and there is no doubt in my mind that I can continue on this way any further.
I am also no stranger to AA. I've built up years in "the rooms" on a couple of occassions; working the program pretty dilegently, as well as sponsoring others. Basically doing everything that was "suggested" to me.
When I first started going, I was actually really excited about it being a spiritual program. But on the other hand, the more I came around, the more things about it didn't sit right with me. I'm not saying that It doesn't work, just maybe that It's not for me.
I hit a few meetings around the holidays and was quickly reminded why I stopped going. And this could be just the AA in my town. When I'm in big cities I have a blast going to meetings and doing all of the young people things and what not.
SO, and sorry for the ramblings, I need to clean up. The alcoholic life sucks. In my opinion the alcoholics anonymous life also sucks (to me). It's like that South Park episode where there was a presidential election where you had to choose between the big turd and the giant douche as candidates. I refuse to believe that these are the only 2 options for my life.
Towards the end of my last stint in AA, I wanted to see what it was about it that was working for me. I think, for me, it came down to being held accountable and filling up my time doing AA things.
WHICH IS MY PROBLEM NOW.
I know It comes down to me, I'm either going to pick up or I'm not. I think having some sort of spiritual connection- whether It's with a higher power or even your core-self, nature, etc. is crucial to me.
But what about the obsession? I'm not going to quickly claim that in the past it was God who removed this obsession. I'd say that in meetings (group think), but I honestly don't know?
I guess all and all, I'm looking for some tips to stay sober in the beginning here. I went a little over a week here recently, but all it took was a friend asking me to go grab some lunch at a place where I enjoyed their beers. Had a couple, but then I was off and running.
If anyone has any tips for me, whether spiritual or not, It'd be greatly appreciated. Thank you..