Hey,
Thought I just chime in to say I've been attending lifering here in Dublin since late last year & find it extremely helpful. I also have the workbook which I briefly started last week & need to get back to. I did attend AA years ago and did the whole steps & sponser thing,, it did work back then but I left or drifted from it about 7 years ago ( ended up doing a lot of psychotherapy instead) which my sponser was totally against. I suppose I was still seeking answers to questions I couldn't find explanations to in AA. Needless to say I picked up again 5 years ago & have tried to manage it and get back into recovery, manage it, control it, get back in recovery for most of the last 5 years. To be honest I was always in trouble bit kept denying it and rationalising it until the next major incident & then I'd try stop again. Going back to AA just would not work as I tried a few times & no fit.
Then I found lifering and bingo,, we have f2f meetings here in Dublin every night except Sunday so I feel fairly privileged by that. Anyway it hasn't been an easy ride as I've relapsed a few times since joining lifering ( have 30 days in the bag today ), but I have to say it feels like its all been part of the journey, although in saying that I do want to hold onto and build on these days now.
Self empowerment was something I've been seeking for a while so I'm glad I found lifering.