gravity

I just came home from an AA meeting. There were about 12 or so people there. I was focused - listening, watching as they were speaking. What really struck me is how healthy & strong everyone looked. Some were tired, some were quiet but no one was upset or negative. Some with weeks, months, years, or even decades sober.

Every share was point blank, no BS, offering experience & strength - helping each other. Several moments of incredible laughter – people deliberately or inadvertently saying something funny. Everyone laughing before & after the meeting, making sure that everyone was okay.

I have only been going to AA for a little over 4 months. I had heard some say that AA is for weak people who like to sit around and b*tch about life & about not being able to drink. What do I think? The most strong, humble, & sincere people I know - nobody complaining, being there for each other. If I keep working the program and hang around these people, I think I'll be okay.

serenityqueen

Well Said Gravity!!

I also have had the same experiences with AA/NA.

I'm not quite sure where these meetings are where people sit around b*tching, moaning, complaining & whining.


Perhaps someone was confused and was thinking about a bar?

Keep Coming Back It Works IF You Work It!

Judy

miss communicat

a great place to find a bunch of uninspired people sitting around and bs-ing...

caraway

Thanks for sharing that wonderful and positive message of AA. I used to feel ashamed of being an alcoholic, but now I am proud to be a member of AA.

Signal30

Those who think that all we do is gripe about not being able to drink are those who have never been to a AA meeting. Most of them get this opinion from television and movies.


Tom

CarolD

AA=Awesome Adventures

I see AA miracles in each meeting
and in my mirror.

How fantastic!

Dean62

I think you will be ok too Gravity.

It's hard to explane to people what it is like to go to a place full of people who like ourselves where slowly killing themselves and who are now enjoying life in a way many people never even know is possible. How to explane the feeling of being with a group of people who don't have to go to a meeting with each other to stay sober but actually want to go to meet with an amazing group of people who look forward to seeing each other and sharing life.

Thank you for the thread Don, your my rock here at SR.

sobergirl77

Gravity, I'm experiencing the same thing in the meetings I've been going to! A diverse, interesting, intelligent, funny and straight-out bunch of people sitting around a table, sharing their experiences and thoughts. People of all ages, different walks of life and different stages of sobriety (including a few who haven't stopped yet but want to)...

I find the night candlelight meetings are the best ones... the lights are out, it's dark except for some candles burning... everyone really opens up and shares their deepest fears and hopes and experiences. When someone is speaking, it gets extremely quiet and you know everyone is listening. When someone cries during a meeting, which happened the other night, people get up and sit next to the person, offer them tissues, and it stays so quiet yet so peaceful.

tkdan

Good thread! I was surprised at how much laughing went on in meetings. The fact that these people seemed to be enjoying life sober made me want what they had which kept me coming back.

Music

I think so too!! We're not a glum lot. One of the surest signs of wellness is the ability to laugh at ourselves about the past.

Tazman53

I thought I was in the wrong place at my first meeting, folks laughing, smiling with a twinkle in thier eye!!! I was fricking miserable, I was far from happy. Well I was in the right place, and when I heard these people share I knew they knew exactly how I felt, they had been where I was at!

We are very honest because that is what it took for us to get sober and what it takes to stay sober. This honesty helps all of us, we know that what we are hearing is from the heart and is the result of the persons ESH and not something they are guessing at.

My wife comes to an occasional open speakers meeting and says some of the stuff we laugh at she finds tragic, I try to explain to her we are laughing at our selfs and not the actual event...... she is not one of us so she just doesn't get it.

beingjenagain

If you can't laugh at yourself who can!!! The insanity of our past alcoholic thinking really is funny. Like noone would notice at the PTA meeting that I was drunk, or maybe they just taught I was stupid. I used the fact that i worked nights as a crutch so many times. "Sorry i worked last night, I am just so tired"

beingjenagain

somehow I posted this twice, sorry"

least

What I've noticed from the meetings I've been to, and am grateful to notice, is that for the most part the people are actually quiet when a speaker is talking, or when it's someone else's turn to talk. Such a refreshing change from so many events in which people carry on their own little conversations DURING someone else's turn to talk!!! It burns me up cause it's so rude.

I've never noticed that at AA meetings tho. What lovely and considerate behavior!!

gravity

I may be unique in this respect , but for my first several meetings I was very self-centered, worried about saying the right thing, feeling like I didn’t quite fit in. Many others seem to be more at ease with each other, more comfortable. This is what I wanted but it did not happen overnight.

I remember a meeting about three months in where in my heart I felt like I was at home. I shared this with the group and you should have seen the smiles – what an incredible feeling.

Today, I am at complete ease at my meetings, more focused, able to truly listen to others, to share from my heart. I see others from my meetings around town quite regularly, always a sincere smile, sometimes a laugh. It’s another one of those things that takes time & effort but the rewards make it so worth it.

sobergirl77

I want the peace and joy that are in so many people's eyes at the meetings I go to... it's a major reason why I keep going back. (Well, that and the fact that it's keeping me from drinking!)

bob_sapp

Once you've been going for a few years and to different meetings, you see all types of meetings and vibes. That's part of what keeps it interesting, seeing how different people are and what their experience is.