Originally Posted by
2muchpain 
First. congrats on 8 months!!!! That's fantastic. I'm sure you worked hard to get there. You must have done a lot of work to get there and are just trying add on some tools to your sobriety plan by going to AA and good for you for doing that. But AA offers a very structured way of staying sober, and anybody that differs from this structure will probably be looked on as a non believer. It's unfortunate because after 8 months of sobriety, you could probably offer some great advice on how to stay sober, but if it doesn't fit in with the principles of AA, it won't be appreciated. Nothing to do with you or AA. Hopefully you will stick with AA cause it does have a lot to offer but the important thing is you keep doing what kept you sober for 8 months and don't let the attitudes of the people in AA or anywhere else get in the way of your success. Take care. John
Yes...but the wise people in AA also know and say to others, "there are as many forms of recovery as there are alcoholics." It's not a one size fits all program IN THE SENSE that the steps, traditions and ensuing promises are laid out for an alcoholic to follow, but the how - the flow, so to speak- is individual. This is why my first sponsor follows a Letter Of The Law approach to her recovery; I know the letters (ie, the actual words and pages and stuff from the BB) but apply more of a Spirit of The Law approach to my recovery. Ex- she color codes the to dos in her calendar and literally everything she does- including things like a 3 min window to talk to me each morning- is scheduled and "must" be executed that way. I have my plan for the day- ex my 5 things I do in the am as recovery/devotional work- but I get them done over a span of, say, a couple of hours. I have more fluidity. I have a routine, but it is my own and it's my application of the program.
We are both sober, recovering, living good lives alcoholics. Our different approaches are part of why she isn't my sponsor any more, and I have my second one (I just hit 6mo and my first sponsor was there from 97 days til 5 or so months with overlap in the two). My sponsor now is more intuitive in applying and practical in using "real world" examples in conjunction with BB foundation. That's my style.
I'd say..."keep coming back - you never know then the miracle will happen." A wise-goer told me the latter - he means that you never know when a miracle of something you need to hear or learn will hit you. THAT is what we should take from meetings and conversations in AA.