This is my 3rd go at sobriety using AA as my recovery method. The first two times I stopped going to meetings at around the 2-3 year mark and eventually relapsed, the first time at around 6.5 years and the 2nd time at around 7 years. In each case I never worked the steps.
I just passed 6 years sober again and I'm still going to meetings, but this time I worked the steps within the first 3-4 months of getting sober. I have found that for me meetings are a crucial part of continuing to work the steps, especially step 12. What better place can I try and carry the message to alcoholics that is suggested in step 12 than at an AA meeting? I have also found that the opening sentence of Chapter 7, "Working with Others" in the Big Book pretty much sums up why I continue to go to meetings after 6 years.
"Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics."
Alcoholics Anonymous 1st Edition: p. 89