The first 100
Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: scotland
Posts: 1,493
jimhere,,thats a really good point you made about letting something die so it can live,i get that,its like giving away what we have got so we can keep it??and trucker that is exactly how i am begining to percieve the meetings where i am in north east scotland.as i said i am new on the programme but i have a really good sponsor who is old school i believe.the thurs afternoon meeting i mentioned is better described as a tea party but there is one chap that goes,and all he does is point out the solution as laid out in the big book,every week he goes and says the same sort of thing,most folk get uncomfortable when he speaks,,they dont like it and i was one of those after only having put the drink down for a week when i first heard him "who is he telling me what to do" he wasnt doing that at all and there i was taking a resentment towards someone passing the AA message.i love listening to him now,,its just solution.thats what im there for.to learn and live in the solution on a daily basis and then pass it on to still suffering alcoholics.its a very good thread and as i say i have a heck of a lot to learn.but listening to you folks is great.im am only messenger,i know this and pray to God every day that i may better do His will.my way is rubbish! its much better His way.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Pugetopolis
Posts: 2,384
Originally Posted by FightingIrish 
Sounds like a lot of self-pity and grandiosity to me. (These people you refer to...)
No, it sounds like the truth. Or I could say "Obviously you don't understand," but that would sould like self-pity. But you don't.
Why don't you find out for yourself?
problem with authority
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 870
Since I do my best not to depend on other people for my purpose in life, I really can't say. I do what I do, I talk about it with others, I share my voice in the Group Conscience, and what others do with that is not up to me.
I will offer that the scene you describe doesn't sound a lot like the meetings I go to. Or maybe I just tune out the parts of the Bell Curve that don't offer me anything. And it's always a Bell Curve, in my experience...A few do A, some do B, most do C, and so on.
M
I will offer that the scene you describe doesn't sound a lot like the meetings I go to. Or maybe I just tune out the parts of the Bell Curve that don't offer me anything. And it's always a Bell Curve, in my experience...A few do A, some do B, most do C, and so on.
M
Originally Posted by jimhere
No, it sounds like the truth. Or I could say "Obviously you don't understand," but that would sould like self-pity. But you don't.
Why don't you find out for yourself?
Why don't you find out for yourself?
Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Pugetopolis
Posts: 2,384
Originally Posted by FightingIrish
Since I do my best not to depend on other people for my purpose in life, I really can't say. I do what I do, I talk about it with others, I share my voice in the Group Conscience, and what others do with that is not up to me.
I will offer that the scene you describe doesn't sound a lot like the meetings I go to. Or maybe I just tune out the parts of the Bell Curve that don't offer me anything. And it's always a Bell Curve, in my experience...A few do A, some do B, most do C, and so on.
M
I will offer that the scene you describe doesn't sound a lot like the meetings I go to. Or maybe I just tune out the parts of the Bell Curve that don't offer me anything. And it's always a Bell Curve, in my experience...A few do A, some do B, most do C, and so on.
M
I didn't hear this stuff in a meeting. I got it from old-timers, sitting and talking with them over lunch and over coffee.
I don't really know how to explain it except by what I said. Maybe it is different where you are, but the deal about some of the old-timers is a phenomenon I have noticed over the last several years. I talked to a few of them about it.
We are always worried about the newcomer. Well, like I have heard on this forum, it isn't always the newcomer who is still suffering. In fact more and more, it isn't the newcomer I focus on. Most of the ones we think of as "new" aren't really new. They have been in and out multiple times. I focus more on the person who is sitting in AA dying, and lately on some of these old-timers.. And I have taken to "Twelfth-Stepping" some of these old-timers. Let me explain that a little.
A few months back, someone told me about an old-timer, thirty-seven years sober, who wasn't going to meetings anymore. So I gave him a call and asked him if I could take him out to lunch. He consented and we had a great time and I got to practice something I need to get better at-listening. He is one of the ones who told me about why he and some of the others don't come around anymore. He also got to share with me some of his experience. I do know it made his day and it made my day. It made his day because he got to feel like he was useful and it made my day because I got to feel like I was useful that day. You see every human being needs to be useful. The minute I cease being useful, it is time for me to leave this planet. I do depend on God, but God gave me other humans so that I can be useful to God and to God's kids.
Speaking of useful, I need to get ready for work. Have great day.
Jim
Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,095
AA dying? Maybe and maybe not. The message of recovery brought about by a spiritual awakening as the result of the 12 steps is sometimes hard to find, but it's still being carried.
I share a lot of Jim's frustrations or perceptions of AA. For most people where I live, AA is a place to have a cup of coffee, socialize with friends, and whine about problems. Group therapy by untrained therapists. Everyone who comes through the legal system and the drug courts gets sent to AA. This seems to work for some people, at least for a while. They find sober friends, fill up some of their time, learn some neat slogans that may come in handy. It's OK, but it's not AA. The message of recovery is not always welcome, but there are some people that get hold of a good sponsor and actually find real sobriety by starting off in those meetings.
But, the message is still thriving, in my opinion. It's just harder to find. Wednesday night this guy I'd never seen before walks in late to our homegroup meeting. Which is unusual because our meeting is not very mainstream. Said he was coming back from a relapse and he was utterly hopeless. It was like blood in the water around that group. We essentially 12 stepped him right there. He has all the support he will ever need in AA, and he started the steps the next day.
Turns out that his probation officer told him he couldn't go to those mainstream AA meetings, but instead sent him specifically to our group. So, the message is harder to find, but it's still there and still effective. I view it as more selective. AA is helping a very small percentage of those who walk into the rooms. But those small few are getting the same help I got.
I share a lot of Jim's frustrations or perceptions of AA. For most people where I live, AA is a place to have a cup of coffee, socialize with friends, and whine about problems. Group therapy by untrained therapists. Everyone who comes through the legal system and the drug courts gets sent to AA. This seems to work for some people, at least for a while. They find sober friends, fill up some of their time, learn some neat slogans that may come in handy. It's OK, but it's not AA. The message of recovery is not always welcome, but there are some people that get hold of a good sponsor and actually find real sobriety by starting off in those meetings.
But, the message is still thriving, in my opinion. It's just harder to find. Wednesday night this guy I'd never seen before walks in late to our homegroup meeting. Which is unusual because our meeting is not very mainstream. Said he was coming back from a relapse and he was utterly hopeless. It was like blood in the water around that group. We essentially 12 stepped him right there. He has all the support he will ever need in AA, and he started the steps the next day.
Turns out that his probation officer told him he couldn't go to those mainstream AA meetings, but instead sent him specifically to our group. So, the message is harder to find, but it's still there and still effective. I view it as more selective. AA is helping a very small percentage of those who walk into the rooms. But those small few are getting the same help I got.
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 6,947
From a newcomer...
I get the AA message from the Big Book, 12x12 and here, from you guys specifically in the 12 step forum, at SR.
I get to see the AA message come to life at the meetings I go to. I go early, stay late, have some coffee and fellowship. Those at my meetings are constant reminders why I have to keep seeking the AA message through reading and work with my sponsor.
I don't know, maybe I am lucky at the meetings I attend... I don't hear much whining but I hear alot of experience strength and hope and I see lots of people who are joyous happy and free. It is my responsibility to be willing, to seek out the AA message by reading, talking to my support group and to work the steps....
Attraction not promotion.
Some of what I read from this thread just doesn't jive with my experience and seems excessively negative... IMHO.
Mark
I get the AA message from the Big Book, 12x12 and here, from you guys specifically in the 12 step forum, at SR.
I get to see the AA message come to life at the meetings I go to. I go early, stay late, have some coffee and fellowship. Those at my meetings are constant reminders why I have to keep seeking the AA message through reading and work with my sponsor.
I don't know, maybe I am lucky at the meetings I attend... I don't hear much whining but I hear alot of experience strength and hope and I see lots of people who are joyous happy and free. It is my responsibility to be willing, to seek out the AA message by reading, talking to my support group and to work the steps....
Attraction not promotion.
Some of what I read from this thread just doesn't jive with my experience and seems excessively negative... IMHO.
Mark
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,861
As I said Mark:
I am amazed that this thing works since I have seen all the things that Keith and Jim have mentioned. My sponsor sometimes feels like he can't share in meetings because opposite of what Jim posted, his word carries so much weight people put him on a pedastal. A place he doesn't want to be at all.
I have seen the therapy sessions and the outside issues. I am reminded that Bill Wilson himself got really fired up about Niacin and shared about it in meetings much to the aggravation of many in the meetings. Can you imagine that today in AA?
Niacin therapy????
Its in the Book
Not that one, the other one.
Our fellowship has had problems from the get go, the miracle of God is that it works at all.
I have seen the therapy sessions and the outside issues. I am reminded that Bill Wilson himself got really fired up about Niacin and shared about it in meetings much to the aggravation of many in the meetings. Can you imagine that today in AA?
Niacin therapy????
Its in the Book
Not that one, the other one.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: uk
Posts: 2,548
A good point about AA has been changing since the get go.
with reflection..........do you guys think I'm getting in a lather about nothing?
just share the solution i have found and leave?
I'm off to a meeting tonight.....one of the first i went to.
Full of oldtimers........if you can see them through the cigarette smoke...lol
and I'm still the baby of the group.
I'm gonna bounce some ideas with old timers......and get some opinions.
grateful for this thread.........with some good shares that help me anyhow.
thanks
with reflection..........do you guys think I'm getting in a lather about nothing?
just share the solution i have found and leave?
I'm off to a meeting tonight.....one of the first i went to.
Full of oldtimers........if you can see them through the cigarette smoke...lol
and I'm still the baby of the group.
I'm gonna bounce some ideas with old timers......and get some opinions.
grateful for this thread.........with some good shares that help me anyhow.
thanks
Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: UK
Posts: 196
Reading this thread has certainly given me the comfort of knowing I am not alone in my thoughts and feelings regarding AA,
when I came to AA I was given a message, I sat in meetings, 7-9 a week, drank coffee and seduced female members, then drank after a year,
when I came back to AA I was given THE message, followed the clear cut directions and recovered, I was and still am so grateful for what God had done for me I could not and can't wait to seek out the next man and carry the message to him,
I hear a lot of non recovered folks say they are grateful in their lead shares and shares from the floor,
I see a lot of recovered folks showing they are grateful through their actions, its a big difference.
when I came to AA I was given a message, I sat in meetings, 7-9 a week, drank coffee and seduced female members, then drank after a year,
when I came back to AA I was given THE message, followed the clear cut directions and recovered, I was and still am so grateful for what God had done for me I could not and can't wait to seek out the next man and carry the message to him,
I hear a lot of non recovered folks say they are grateful in their lead shares and shares from the floor,
I see a lot of recovered folks showing they are grateful through their actions, its a big difference.
IO Storm
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Southern California
Posts: 18,436
Originally Posted by bballdad
Roland Hazard met with Dr Carl Jung
Roland later got drunk,then got sober in the Oxford Groups
The Oxford group sobered up Ebby T who made a call on Bill W
Bill W later got sober and some months later made a call on Dr Bob
Dr Bob later got drunk and then Bill helped sober him up and Dr Bob
and Bill then stayed sober the rest of their lives.
Roland later got drunk,then got sober in the Oxford Groups
The Oxford group sobered up Ebby T who made a call on Bill W
Bill W later got sober and some months later made a call on Dr Bob
Dr Bob later got drunk and then Bill helped sober him up and Dr Bob
and Bill then stayed sober the rest of their lives.
I love AA history. Thank you for looking this up and posting it...I really enjoying
reviewing it today.
It`s ok to stay sober
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Central NC
Posts: 20,902
thinking of the post about Ebby and Roland
Roland met Dr Jung,got sober then got drunk
Roland got sober again in the Oxford Group
He helped Ebby get sober
Ebby got drunk again after carring the message to Bill W
Bill W got drunk and sobered up and then found Dr Bob and carried the message to him
Dr Bob then got drunk and then sobered up for good and carried the message to others
see a pattern here?
How many of us have been down the same road they traveled?
I have
Roland met Dr Jung,got sober then got drunk
Roland got sober again in the Oxford Group
He helped Ebby get sober
Ebby got drunk again after carring the message to Bill W
Bill W got drunk and sobered up and then found Dr Bob and carried the message to him
Dr Bob then got drunk and then sobered up for good and carried the message to others
see a pattern here?
How many of us have been down the same road they traveled?
I have
same planet...different world
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Butte, America
Posts: 10,946
Almost word for word today, this got said in a meeting:
(I think it was navysteve quoting someone?)
cracked me up to see it here.
And I will say here... what I said in the meeting today right after:.
"Must've been a really desperate woman picking up men at an AA meeting. The odds are good...the goods are odd."
Steve also said in the first post of his (I think)
"I think it's important to know where we came from"
I agree with that a hunner percent.
While my eyes glaze over at some of the debates that read as if people are just trying to 'one-up' each other by knowing more about what part of the book, or what color shirt Bill W was wearing when he wrote what....
The part of thinking of the historical-ness of this program is ...
They did this without television.
Without telephones in every house.
(Or every pocket)
Without highways.
Without... ANTIBIOTICS, even.
NO ONE had tried this.
They had no point of reference other than the oxford stuff,
I'm meaning accuumulated scientific medical information
because they were the first
to consider
and treat
alcoholism as a disease.
So when *I* think about 'where we come from'
I think about 'where we came from' more in the genre' of:
*I* would like to imagine I could be strong enough to establish a new paradigm of thinking in a hopless aspect of today's society.
In fact, I often catch myself pretending I *am* a person of the caliber of character to ferret out and establish such a system.
I also like to pretend that I could be strong enough in character to return the One Ring to the Mountain of Fire to destroy evil in the world.
(Lord of the Rings for those who don't know)
But the simple truth is -
I probably ... could not.
Do either.
So whether Joseph J.
( I made that up)
managed to stay sober and live to a ripe old age....
of he did all this writing and died drunk in an alley...
... just isn't important to me.
What matters to this
selfish singleminded alcoholic
is that a Program of Recovery
has been handed down to me...
and when I did that program
as originally designed -
I got sober.
I *was* relieved of the compulsion to take a drink.
My staying sober and growing as a human being
has to be my own testament
to 'Joseph J.' and what he tried to do...
even though he couldn't manage the same for himself.
I hope I'm getting the point across here.
I suffer from an incurable, fatal condition.
Incurable
but treatable.
The Program of Alcoholics Anonymous
has returned hope to me
in the darkest time of this life.
FOr me, the most important thing to remember about where *I* came from...
is the heroism of people like Dr. Silkwood and Dr. Bob...
and Bill W. and even 'Gatsby' Ebby
to keep trying.
To keep going.
Thank GOD they did that.
Because of their efforts
not their successes...
their ES&H and their effort...
I am here to type this today.
I am SO Sorry this was so long.
And thanks Steve - it's a great thread!
A loose woman may show up at a group, on the prowl for phone numbers and dates.
cracked me up to see it here.
And I will say here... what I said in the meeting today right after:.
"Must've been a really desperate woman picking up men at an AA meeting. The odds are good...the goods are odd."
Steve also said in the first post of his (I think)
"I think it's important to know where we came from"
I agree with that a hunner percent.
While my eyes glaze over at some of the debates that read as if people are just trying to 'one-up' each other by knowing more about what part of the book, or what color shirt Bill W was wearing when he wrote what....
The part of thinking of the historical-ness of this program is ...
They did this without television.
Without telephones in every house.
(Or every pocket)
Without highways.
Without... ANTIBIOTICS, even.
NO ONE had tried this.
They had no point of reference other than the oxford stuff,
I'm meaning accuumulated scientific medical information
because they were the first
to consider
and treat
alcoholism as a disease.
So when *I* think about 'where we come from'
I think about 'where we came from' more in the genre' of:
*I* would like to imagine I could be strong enough to establish a new paradigm of thinking in a hopless aspect of today's society.
In fact, I often catch myself pretending I *am* a person of the caliber of character to ferret out and establish such a system.
I also like to pretend that I could be strong enough in character to return the One Ring to the Mountain of Fire to destroy evil in the world.
(Lord of the Rings for those who don't know)
But the simple truth is -
I probably ... could not.
Do either.
So whether Joseph J.
( I made that up)
managed to stay sober and live to a ripe old age....
of he did all this writing and died drunk in an alley...
... just isn't important to me.
What matters to this
selfish singleminded alcoholic
is that a Program of Recovery
has been handed down to me...
and when I did that program
as originally designed -
I got sober.
I *was* relieved of the compulsion to take a drink.
My staying sober and growing as a human being
has to be my own testament
to 'Joseph J.' and what he tried to do...
even though he couldn't manage the same for himself.
I hope I'm getting the point across here.
I suffer from an incurable, fatal condition.
Incurable
but treatable.
The Program of Alcoholics Anonymous
has returned hope to me
in the darkest time of this life.
FOr me, the most important thing to remember about where *I* came from...
is the heroism of people like Dr. Silkwood and Dr. Bob...
and Bill W. and even 'Gatsby' Ebby
to keep trying.
To keep going.
Thank GOD they did that.
Because of their efforts
not their successes...
their ES&H and their effort...
I am here to type this today.
I am SO Sorry this was so long.
And thanks Steve - it's a great thread!
Last edited by barb dwyer; 05-29-2009 at 03:49 PM. Reason: spelling
Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 49
As a reletive to AA, and yes I have worked the steps I wish to say thanks for starting this thought provoking thread. I think anytime you have a group of people there will always be differences of opinion. What I've learned in my short time in AA is that it works for me and when I start to feel the need to find fault in what I see around me I have a choice, I can accept things as they are or work to change them.
"I am reponsible"
Thanks
Steve
"I am reponsible"
Thanks
Steve
same planet...different world
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Butte, America
Posts: 10,946
I feel exactly the same, Steve!
I don't worry about AA 'falling' as long as I'm alive.
" I am responsible. When anyone anywhere reaches out, I want the hand of AA to be there. And for that - I am responsible."
I'm not in charge of anyone else, but I took that saying to heart and try to live it in all my affairs.
So I figure... as long as I"m alive... there's an AA.
Since the Program has taught me I'm not unique...
That means there's thousands out there just like me.
I figure the 'end of AA' rumors are just that .. rumors.
I don't worry about AA 'falling' as long as I'm alive.
" I am responsible. When anyone anywhere reaches out, I want the hand of AA to be there. And for that - I am responsible."
I'm not in charge of anyone else, but I took that saying to heart and try to live it in all my affairs.
So I figure... as long as I"m alive... there's an AA.
Since the Program has taught me I'm not unique...
That means there's thousands out there just like me.
I figure the 'end of AA' rumors are just that .. rumors.
Laozi Old Man
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 6,665
I once had a chance to talk with an old-timer who had 48 years of sobriety.
I asked hem if AA had changed much since he first started?
His answer was "Sure has, we were all Real Alcoholics when I went to my first meeting."
I then asked him what percentage of AA members were Real Alcoholics today?
His answer was "I'd say less than 50%. But that does not mean the others don't belong here. If they were not in AA meetings they would be in Jail, Hospitals or causing trouble somewhere else."
I asked hem if AA had changed much since he first started?
His answer was "Sure has, we were all Real Alcoholics when I went to my first meeting."
I then asked him what percentage of AA members were Real Alcoholics today?
His answer was "I'd say less than 50%. But that does not mean the others don't belong here. If they were not in AA meetings they would be in Jail, Hospitals or causing trouble somewhere else."
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 700
In the two towns where I attend AA, I've seen rebirth of AA.
One town, only had one meeting that had the same five people discussing politics and gossip for years. One of the five finally had enough. Didn't like it anymore. But didn't give up. He once went to a meeting he loved 40 miles away. So he contacted them and asked how he could make the meeting better. They gave him a group statement to read before the meeting started saying the meeting focus is on solutions rather problems. And he made it into a step meeting. That meeting went from five members to 40-50 members in 1 year. Another meeting spawned from it, Big Book study (my home group). That town of 3000, now has two solution based well attended meetings.
The town I live in, has always had a alano club. It also has a big halfway house. For many years it has what has been described here. Fellowship that has a contemporary view of AA. Constant 13 stepping. This past year, they have changed. They had the district do a sponsorship workshop, Two big book studies were added to the weekly meeting schedule, I see the fellowship changing. I had breakfast with a big book thumping old timer yesterday, He picked up 3 sponsee's in the last week. He said he can't say no.. but his time is getting more limited.
attraction rather promotion.
We need to offer the solution, if its not being offered where you go. Nothing wrong with starting a solution based meeting. The fellowship, what ever state it is in, is always craving the solution.
One town, only had one meeting that had the same five people discussing politics and gossip for years. One of the five finally had enough. Didn't like it anymore. But didn't give up. He once went to a meeting he loved 40 miles away. So he contacted them and asked how he could make the meeting better. They gave him a group statement to read before the meeting started saying the meeting focus is on solutions rather problems. And he made it into a step meeting. That meeting went from five members to 40-50 members in 1 year. Another meeting spawned from it, Big Book study (my home group). That town of 3000, now has two solution based well attended meetings.
The town I live in, has always had a alano club. It also has a big halfway house. For many years it has what has been described here. Fellowship that has a contemporary view of AA. Constant 13 stepping. This past year, they have changed. They had the district do a sponsorship workshop, Two big book studies were added to the weekly meeting schedule, I see the fellowship changing. I had breakfast with a big book thumping old timer yesterday, He picked up 3 sponsee's in the last week. He said he can't say no.. but his time is getting more limited.
attraction rather promotion.
We need to offer the solution, if its not being offered where you go. Nothing wrong with starting a solution based meeting. The fellowship, what ever state it is in, is always craving the solution.
Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 49
Originally Posted by trucker
im not great at articulating myself...certainly not as good as some of you.
but this is how i feel...when i first met my sponsor or rather when he introduced himself i was surprised by his intense desire to show me and discuss the big book of alcoholics anonymous.
i had already started to pick up the usual rubbish and was slowly convincing myself...that the more meeting i did the longer i would stay sober..
My sponsor started to convince me that i wouldnt find a solution in meetings...he told me about a solution set out in that book and that that was what AA was all about....its all AA Is he would say.
That guy saved my life.....he passed on the solution to me and told me what AA Isnt.
and guess what......the desire to drink started to fade..and a new way of thinking started..
i made lots of mistakes.......only to be pulled by my sponsor and brought back to the program every time.
My sponsor once called a meeting a "tea party" and i now know what he meant.
The space between aa the fellowship and aa the program of recovery is widening.....thats how it feels to me.
I dont hear about the solution in AA meetings here.
i hear alot of "stuff" but rarely a solution.
sure the big book gets read out...........only to be forgotten as a sideline.
The solution seems to have become a after thought to alot of meetings here
mention god in some of these meetings and i feel the uncomfortable shuffling of some members.
i keep saying to myself.......god or booze....otherwise shut your mouth...thats what i believe anyhow.
It may be different in the usa but here id rather stay at home and study or meet up with like minded pals....or if i can grab a newcomer.
i dont wanna hear about drugs in a AA Meeting.......because its an AA Meeting......i dont wanna hear what your consellor say.....i dont wanna hear all thoses silly catch phrases that convince the newcomer to sit tight and its all gonna be ok.
i wanna hear how you stay sober ......using that book....remember the one read out in the beginning.
i want to hear your solution........i dont want all the extra s...t tacked on.
im bored with it.
i hope that makes sense......it does to me...im not slating aa......Because what ive talked about aint aa.
but this is how i feel...when i first met my sponsor or rather when he introduced himself i was surprised by his intense desire to show me and discuss the big book of alcoholics anonymous.
i had already started to pick up the usual rubbish and was slowly convincing myself...that the more meeting i did the longer i would stay sober..
My sponsor started to convince me that i wouldnt find a solution in meetings...he told me about a solution set out in that book and that that was what AA was all about....its all AA Is he would say.
That guy saved my life.....he passed on the solution to me and told me what AA Isnt.
and guess what......the desire to drink started to fade..and a new way of thinking started..
i made lots of mistakes.......only to be pulled by my sponsor and brought back to the program every time.
My sponsor once called a meeting a "tea party" and i now know what he meant.
The space between aa the fellowship and aa the program of recovery is widening.....thats how it feels to me.
I dont hear about the solution in AA meetings here.
i hear alot of "stuff" but rarely a solution.
sure the big book gets read out...........only to be forgotten as a sideline.
The solution seems to have become a after thought to alot of meetings here
mention god in some of these meetings and i feel the uncomfortable shuffling of some members.
i keep saying to myself.......god or booze....otherwise shut your mouth...thats what i believe anyhow.
It may be different in the usa but here id rather stay at home and study or meet up with like minded pals....or if i can grab a newcomer.
i dont wanna hear about drugs in a AA Meeting.......because its an AA Meeting......i dont wanna hear what your consellor say.....i dont wanna hear all thoses silly catch phrases that convince the newcomer to sit tight and its all gonna be ok.
i wanna hear how you stay sober ......using that book....remember the one read out in the beginning.
i want to hear your solution........i dont want all the extra s...t tacked on.
im bored with it.
i hope that makes sense......it does to me...im not slating aa......Because what ive talked about aint aa.
I feel the same way. I came into my first meeting trembling with fear because I had read the BB and there was no doubt in my mind I was an alcoholic. I was made to feel welcome and given a phone list(that I never used) and told to "keep coming back" which I did. After about 2 months I was even more convinced I was alcoholic and quite frankly beginning to think I was meant to kill myself with alcohol.Thank God I met my sponser who flat out told me that just going to meetings was NOT the answer. He is a 20 + year BB hardliner, thumper, or whatever else we who don't subscribe to the watered down version of AA. This man LIVES the 12 steps and traditions, and guided me through the 12 steps straight out of the BB. That is when I actually started to see and feel for myself how it works.
The reason I share this is that most of the the other members were very friendly and good people. But I did not need friends. I needed the straight goods.
I can't claim to be totally "recovered" as promised but I have absolutely no doubt that as I work steps 10,11,and 12 in my daily life I will be. For now the obsession of alcohol has left me and been replaced by striving daily to hear Gods will for me so I can best serve others.
I pray for the day I succceed at this more than I fail...
Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 27
I need to have 25 postings
in order to ask navysteve a question.
Here is what happened: I found some information I thought interesting. I do think I remember it was navysteve who said that by the time the big book was written there were 74 members, and 41 of those eventually got permanently sober. Now, I wanted to ask where he had those numbers from.
So I went and logged in, and when I had done that it took me "back" to a whole different place, and I have not been able to find the original place. I have had 9 postings already, so now I'm going to see if I can post 15 more so I can send navysteve an email. and the idea is to just post this 15 times, since I don't know what else to do. I hope this regretful spamming does not cause anyone any trouble.
And I hope the webmaster will fix the site, so that when a person goes to sign in they don't loose the place where they were on the site.
Here is what happened: I found some information I thought interesting. I do think I remember it was navysteve who said that by the time the big book was written there were 74 members, and 41 of those eventually got permanently sober. Now, I wanted to ask where he had those numbers from.
So I went and logged in, and when I had done that it took me "back" to a whole different place, and I have not been able to find the original place. I have had 9 postings already, so now I'm going to see if I can post 15 more so I can send navysteve an email. and the idea is to just post this 15 times, since I don't know what else to do. I hope this regretful spamming does not cause anyone any trouble.
And I hope the webmaster will fix the site, so that when a person goes to sign in they don't loose the place where they were on the site.
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