I don't think I qualify for AA yet, actually maybe I do, but please give your advice if you think I do, I don't want to turn up and hear someone say "don't be stupid, come back when you've properly ruined your life". Ok, they wouldnt, I know that, but to me AA is one of those things where someone's hit rock bottom and it's taken them to hit rock bottom to realise they have a problem.
This was a bit hard for me to grasp at first also. I would go to a meeting and hear horrendous stories of people's lives and afterward I would think "Oh, Connie, maybe you should re-think this alcohol thing. You haven't gotten near as bad as that". I still stayed away from alcohol for 15 days. Then on day 16 I thought i'd just take one sip. This, of course, led to finishing the bottle as well as the bottom of every bottle of ANY kind of alcohol I could find in the house.
The next day, I really faced the fact that you don't have to lose everything and end up on the streets to be an alcoholic. I know now (which I thought I knew before) that I CANNOT stop once I start. And that is an alcoholic. Personally, I'm still figuring out if AA is right for me, but I do know that SR helps and will continue going to AA meetings until something else comes along. The support of others who TRULY UNDERSTAND is a huge help.
Good Luck, and keep coming back to this wonderful community of friends.
Everything that was good with alcohol has been even better without.