I had five years, I moved, I did not go to meeting or connect with other RAs and when life struck I drank.
I do believe that the program is the steps and that meeting makers make meetings but I also believe that (in my case at least) when I start isolating and when I stop carrying the message and connecting with others like me I am in deep trouble.
I average 3 meetings a week. Some weeks I do more, other less but when I see my meeting attendance drop I look inside myself. Is something bugging me? Am I isolating?
Because I drank alone trapped in my own thoughts, I need others to stay on track.
Now that's just my own esh.
If missing the meeting was just a hoops then don't be too harsh on yourself. If it was not for my cell phone's electronic reminder I'd forget a lot of things. I got a case of CRS (old age setting in? lol). The one thing I cannot afford to forget and that unfortunately my cell is not equipped to remind me of is how bad I felt when I drank. Yep, I have one of those built in forgetters and like you I have a dormant AV. Meetings help me remember not to forget.