jjaaam

At a meeting last week the topic was service work. I however was having a burning desire to share about a different issue and I did so.

At the end of the meeting when the chairperson asked "is there anyone else that needs to share" the person sitting across from me started to talk. He pointed at me and said how what I had shared hit him right between the eyes and that he was still struggling...and how he needed help to get things back on track. He was crying as well.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trying make myself sound puffed up. It just made me think that even by sharing, you are performing a service that just might help that one other person that God put in that meeting at that time just so your words could be heard.

Do you know what I mean?

Astro

When I was early in recovery I refused to share at meetings, my thought was that I had nothing to offer as a newcomer so I kept to myself and just listened. When asked by an oldtimer why I always "passed" when my turn to share came I told him why I kept so quiet. His response to me was.......

How do you know what anyone else in the room needs to hear? And what makes you think that your words won't have an impact on the person who's still suffering?

From that day on I tried to share whenever I had a chance. I still keep my shares to a minimal length of time, I do believe that anything I can share of value needs to come out in the first 30 seconds, after that people tend to lose interest.

CarolD

Certainly...just like on here
you never know who can benefit from your sharing.

I hope you spoke more with him after the meeting.

Jfanagle

I have always been told that "you never know when someone needs to hear JUST EXACTLY what you have to say."

After all these years I am still waiting for someone to NEED or even WANT to hear what I have to say, (besides me that is). Oh well, sorry guys I will continue to share.

Keep coming back ( and sharing) no matter what.

Jon

gravity

Earlier in my recovery, I told my sponsor that I was going to skip a meeting I usually attend, that I was feeling great and the meeting wouldn't do much for me. My sponsor responded "That's one of the most selfish things I have heard you say in a long time. Get down there and help someone!"

Very early in my recovery, I was focusing on what the people with 15, 30, or 60 days had to say. They had the ESH I needed, I could relate to them. I keep that in mind when I attend meetings. Maybe someone else can relate to what I have to say, a guy with 7 months sober.

Without fail, I always hear something that I need to hear. I really have to try to do the same for others.

kelsh

When I first started going to AA Meetings I just listened mainly because I was still in a fog of Depression. I began sharing when something like you said,"Hit Me Between the Eyes."

Two years after I sobered up I got a job at the County Mental Health Center as a tech. I did go back to college the second year of my Sobriety and got a BA Degree in Psychology. My first year of Sobriety and help for Depression was totally involved with working the AA Program and meeting with my counselors for alcoholism and depression + my job as a Caregiver for the Elderly. :ghug3

As I got more into my work with the Elderly as a Geriatric Mental Health Counselor I waited for my heart & stomach to give me permission to share with a client about my struggles with depression or alcoholism if appropriate.

Believe it or not some Elderly do have addiction problems....with alcohol & prescription drugs. They also experience depression, grief, & major losses & just need a little push to get them out and active again. I loved my job & had already worked ten years with the Elderly before I got the job at Mental Health. :atv

I feel so lucky to have sobered up and got involved with the AA Program and my Sponsor. I heard my story over and over again and at the time I sobered up we had ten women in AA. We also had a Women's AA Group that met at 11:00 AM every Monday so I took my lunch an hour early on Mondays.

I hope I do help others on the Sober Recovery site and the DBSA Forums for my depression. I certainly have a lot of experience, strength & hope to share with others that may not work for all but for some of us. :praying

kelsh

Tazman53

jjaaam thanks for sharing that, I have heard many an old timer share that they still learn from newcomers.

I have also heard of some meetings where you can not share unless you have some preset amount of sobriety, I avoid those and always will, I need the newcomer just as much as I need the old timers and guys with the same amount of time as me.

The reason I am glad you shared that is because last night I was in a group conscience at a newcomers meeting and a newcomer with less then a month thanked me for asking for a show of hands of those folks willing to be temporary sponors to where people seeking sponsors would know who to ask with out getting turned down a few weeks earlier. He told me that he was really lost and needed someone to help him and when the guy in front of him held up his hand, he asked him to be his temporary sponsor.

This was one of the few times that some one has thanked me personally for a share. It felt good to know that something I said helped some one else, I try to thank folks who share something that helps me, but to many times I simply do not get to. I will go the extra mile in the future to let those who touch me or help me with a share know it.

gravity

I don't do enough of this either. People say some truly amazing things that help me so much. A handshake and a thank you just takes seconds.

Thanks, Taz .

AW2486

I want to thank all of you .. who attend AA meetings. The day I walked into my first meeting I was scared and hopeless. You greeted me, told me you were glad I was there, and when you shared about the 1st step, You were telling my story so I could identify with you. I left there having hope.. instead of feeling hopeless.

I thank you all !!

Astro

THANK YOU ALSO! for 12th Stepping me and keeping me sober. It doesn't matter how much sober time I have or how many meetings I attend, I have to give it away to keep it!