Old 12-08-2011, 09:27 PM
  # 11 (permalink)  
Sapling
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Between Meetings
Posts: 8,997
First off...Congrats on six months, no matter how you are doing it. From what I am reading here...It doesn't seem like it is AA and I doubt if you will have that sponsor much longer. Just to kind of go through what you are saying here....

Originally Posted by ClimbingBack View Post
I'll have been clean for 6 months as of December 23 of this year. I attend NA and AA meetings 2-3x per week, and one LifeRing meeting per week.
Is it 2 or is it 3? And do you attend or do you stare at the clock?

I'm 27 years old and honestly, I find it difficult to connect with many of the members at the most convenient AA meetings I can get to.
Have you ever tried? and what do you mean by convenient?

My sponsor gives me a hard time about not going to a meeting every day, but quite frankly, I have found better uses of my time.
Sounds like you don't need a sponsor.

Lately I find myself going to meetings just for the sake of going to a meeting and not getting grief from my sponsor. I stare at the clock the entire time, itching to get out of there.
This is what you mean by attending.


I don't know if I need to mix up the meetings that I go to or what, but I feel like I'm getting stale again in my recovery and can't afford to.
This is a "WE" program and you use the word "I" five times in this sentence. You could have used it six times if you added one in front of "cant afford to."


I am doing step work and enjoying it.
If you are enjoying it..You probably aren't doing it right. If at all.

I think for me personally
This is probably not a good idea.

I work better one on one versus in a large group.
What do you mean by working?

I have a very difficult time connecting with people outside of the meeting...part of this I think has to do with the age discrepancy (I'm 27, whereas the average age at the meetings I go to is 50+).
Are you there to connect with people or are you there to learn from people with a little more experience than you?

That being said, I found a young person's meeting that I go to weekly and greatly enjoy.
You're there to connect with people

I think it's important to realize that everyone is different. What works well for one person might not for another.
That depends on what you mean by work.

I get a lot more out of working one on one with my sponsor vs. sitting in a large group listening to one person talk at a time.
Would you prefer a large group where everyone is talking at the same time? That's called a bar.


That's not to say that I don't get anything out of meetings, but I personally cannot see myself going to a meeting everyday.
You don't.

At some point, I think the point of getting sober is to go out and live your life happily, not sit in meetings all day.
You don't....And at some point it is. You might want to work the steps.

For some people, sitting in meetings all day is their life - and that's fine by me....however it frustrates me when my sponsor tries to push this lifestyle on me.
For me right now...It is my life. Get another sponsor.

That being said, sobriety is great.
Don't give AA any credit.


It's great being able to constantly set new goals, rebuild relationships, and be ridiculously healthy again. I was fortunate enough to place 5th in a local strongman competition a few weeks ago (without the assistance of large amounts of amphetamines this time ). I am in the best shape of my life physically, mentally, and emotionally. I practice yoga daily, workout hard at my local Crossfit gym 5-6 days per week, meditate, and pray daily.
Why don't you tell your sponsor that. Maybe he could help someone else.


I don't buy into a lot of the dogma of the 12-steps programs yet, but I continue to go to meetings and "act as if". LifeRing provides a WONDERFUL alternative to 12-step programs, and I get much more out of those meetings.
Then you should stop wasting your sponsor's time. You know you never used the word we on that whole page. Don't give your sponsor or AA a bad name for people that may actually get something out of it. I do like the way you threw the word "Yet" in there though. Leaves the door open.

That's all for now, thanks for listening.
No problem.
Sapling is offline