Originally Posted by
SoberMarathon 
Kiki...can you tell us more about the positives you get from attending AA? My counselor is pushing 12 steps on me and I'm not so convinced. I'm considering attending an AA alternative such as SMART but not sure I'm ready for any of that yet. Definitely not considering relapse and am very motivated to stay on track but do want to have the tools to get through the tough situations that lie ahead sober. Thanks for your support everyone!
Hmmmm...The positives of AA:
1. The people are super nice and truly understand me. It's like they are from MY planet! (I had to try lots of meetings until I found a few I really like).
2. There are many different types of meetings-a. speaker meetings (people tell their recovery stories which gives me hope) b. Discussion meetings where you can bring up topics of things you need help with c. Literature meetings/big book studies
3. I like face to face in addition to SR for extra support.
4. People give out their phone #'s and if you need them you can call. :-) They seem to always want to help.
5. The 12 steps help me get rid of all the crap in my head that makes me want to drink! I get to work through all my resentments with my sponsor (who was right where I was once) and get rid of all my shame and guilt.
6. There are AA meetings in every country in the world including cruise ships so I always have support.
7. The Big Book is a really great book and explains why I drank. I swear someone wrote it for ME! Haha. I had an obsession of the mind and an allergy of the body and unless I work through all the "reasons" I drank, I will surely drink again or substitute something else to fill the void. I believe that!
8. I have seen miracles! Hopeless alcoholics who were near death & had lost everything recover. That in itself gives me hope.
9. I personally think it's just good support and extra reassurance. Alcoholism is relentless so anything I can do to give me extra tools is awesome.
10. I also like it because they have great coffee & snacks & people care about me & give good hugs. They also don't judge me when I cry buckets of tears.
11. We can laugh about things non-alcoholics can't...and as we all know, alcoholics have some great stories. It feels good to laugh.
12. I feel safe in AA. No one judges me, I can be myself.
13. When I see someone come in for the first time and they speak of the horrors of drinking & look like they just left a war, it reminds me of why I don't want to go back to drinking.
So those are some of the things I like about AA personally. Different things work for different people but for "me", a combination of SR, AA, therapy, church, exercise, reading recovery material, eating right, lots of water, deep breathing, meditation, sleep & prayer is working for me.
I am working on the "reasons" I drank. Alcohol was just a bandage for me to cover up a whole lotta pain from my childhood, anxiety, etc. I need to work thru that stuff because for me sobriety is not just about "not drinking". It's about being happy.
"If you take alcohol away from a drunk horse thief you still have a horse thief." -Unknown