Are A.A. Meetings..
Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 13
Yes. Going to meetings has alleviated the isolation I felt when I was drinking, and that alone makes them essential in my life. I also like seeing my sponsor (and my fellow sponsees) twice a week. I'm grateful that I live in a place with a lot of good meetings; even the ones that "miss" topic-wise are still worthwhile.
Awaiting Email Confirmation
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 318
I have had some great experiences in my meetings so far. I have been to 7 now and each time I have taken something from it that I have been able to relate to, can see in my future, or that touches me deeply. It is a great feeling and I always come away with a different and even better outlook than when I walked through the door. It doesn't matter how people look, where they have been or what they have seen...they always welcome you and help you. It is about the warmest place I have ever been and there are some really great people there.
D.
D.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Lomita, California
Posts: 200
I used to go to NA meetings, the local one was just right. Bunch of bike riders (Harley's and "rice burners") but the place we had the meeting closed up. So they moved way out of the area. Tried a few local AA meetings, at one I was rudely told by an old timer that I could not share until I had a year sober. Pfffft.
I keep trying, tho, but it has to fit my strange work schedule. And, yes, I know not all meetings are bad/ good. You have to find what you're comfortable with.
I keep trying, tho, but it has to fit my strange work schedule. And, yes, I know not all meetings are bad/ good. You have to find what you're comfortable with.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 385
Originally Posted by 24hrsAday 
i often feel a sense of calm from them myself..
so....I'm in a meeting at my home group when a fellow proceded to hold the meeting hostage through a ten minute exposition of all the pain, misery and hopelessness he felt. He whined and whined, without ever seeming to desire any sort of solution. I must admit to becoming quite irritated...so much so that I nearly left the meeting....which I hardly ever do.
But it seems that I do get what I need...whether that is a god thing or just my universe taking care of me, I don't know, because:
I imediately went to another meeting down the street and, lo and behold, there was the same fellow, who did the same ten minute rant. I was fit to be tied.
After the meeting he asked me to sponsor him.
And I did.
Let go, let God.
blessings
zenbear
High on Life
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Been to Hell and Back
Posts: 1,157
Originally Posted by zbear23
I love stories...so here's a story: I was told...and believed....in AA that if I didn't feel better at the end of a meeting than I did before the meeting, I probably needed to get to another meeting ASAP.
so....I'm in a meeting at my home group when a fellow proceded to hold the meeting hostage through a ten minute exposition of all the pain, misery and hopelessness he felt. He whined and whined, without ever seeming to desire any sort of solution. I must admit to becoming quite irritated...so much so that I nearly left the meeting....which I hardly ever do.
But it seems that I do get what I need...whether that is a god thing or just my universe taking care of me, I don't know, because:
I imediately went to another meeting down the street and, lo and behold, there was the same fellow, who did the same ten minute rant. I was fit to be tied.
After the meeting he asked me to sponsor him.
And I did.
Let go, let God.
blessings
zenbear
so....I'm in a meeting at my home group when a fellow proceded to hold the meeting hostage through a ten minute exposition of all the pain, misery and hopelessness he felt. He whined and whined, without ever seeming to desire any sort of solution. I must admit to becoming quite irritated...so much so that I nearly left the meeting....which I hardly ever do.
But it seems that I do get what I need...whether that is a god thing or just my universe taking care of me, I don't know, because:
I imediately went to another meeting down the street and, lo and behold, there was the same fellow, who did the same ten minute rant. I was fit to be tied.
After the meeting he asked me to sponsor him.
And I did.
Let go, let God.
blessings
zenbear
That's funny.........
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
LOL @ zbear,
Sometimes it just works out that we really ARE where we need to be, eh?
There's actually a guy who has quite a few years and is one of the "anchor" members of one of my home groups who always shares AT LENGTH, and I cringed on Friday when our "opener" Friday night called on him five minutes before the end of the meeting. I'd been absorbed in the entire meeting, but I always get a bit antsy at the end. Sure enough, this guy goes into his usual long-winded share, which tends to ramble and includes details most of us have heard a hundred times. But you never know, what he had to say might have been JUST THE THING for one of the new people in the group.
Meetings aren't just for me, and they aren't just for what I get out of them. And anyway, any impatience and intolerance I was feeling was outweighed by my happy post-meeting experience, when I went out to eat with a lady who has been in and out many times for the past year and a half, who now has made some very positive changes in her life and in her openness to the program and is currently over 40 days sober!
Sometimes it just works out that we really ARE where we need to be, eh?
There's actually a guy who has quite a few years and is one of the "anchor" members of one of my home groups who always shares AT LENGTH, and I cringed on Friday when our "opener" Friday night called on him five minutes before the end of the meeting. I'd been absorbed in the entire meeting, but I always get a bit antsy at the end. Sure enough, this guy goes into his usual long-winded share, which tends to ramble and includes details most of us have heard a hundred times. But you never know, what he had to say might have been JUST THE THING for one of the new people in the group.
Meetings aren't just for me, and they aren't just for what I get out of them. And anyway, any impatience and intolerance I was feeling was outweighed by my happy post-meeting experience, when I went out to eat with a lady who has been in and out many times for the past year and a half, who now has made some very positive changes in her life and in her openness to the program and is currently over 40 days sober!
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Living in Today!
Posts: 3,945
Originally Posted by keithj
Meetings are a huge benefit to me. I'll admit, they even serve some of my social needs.
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: WI
Posts: 228
While AA meetings are a vital part of my recovery, they allow me to interact with other drunks, form relationships, etc. They are not the program of alcoholics anonymous, the meetings in and of themselves are not the solution... The solution is contained in the first 164 pages of the big book of alcoholics anonymous. The meetings are where I go to share, carry the message, and work with other alcoholics.
I went through this phase last year where I was really caught up in what I was getting out of the meetings, what I could learn, and what I could take with me when I left. After some whining about this to a sponsor, he gently reminded me that it is not about what I can get out of a meeting, but what I can provide to others that is vital. The meetings need you more than you need the meetings-and this has nothing to do with the amount of time you have (time means nothing in this thing). Anytime I go to a meting and hear people share honestly about their lives, their program, and most importantly, the common solution we all have, I am reminded of that fact that its not about me getting anything.
This is not a selfish program, it is a self-less program. Once I had a change in perception surrounding this, that nagging selfish feeling of "not getting anything" out of certain meetings went away and I found that the real purpose of the meetings was for me to share about the solution, carry this message we all have of the program of alcoholics anonymous, and try to be of service to other drunks.
The meetings are the fellowship where I go to share my experience, strength, and hope with other alcoholics... the solution, the program, is the book which leads me to a power that relieved me of my obsession to drink.
I went through this phase last year where I was really caught up in what I was getting out of the meetings, what I could learn, and what I could take with me when I left. After some whining about this to a sponsor, he gently reminded me that it is not about what I can get out of a meeting, but what I can provide to others that is vital. The meetings need you more than you need the meetings-and this has nothing to do with the amount of time you have (time means nothing in this thing). Anytime I go to a meting and hear people share honestly about their lives, their program, and most importantly, the common solution we all have, I am reminded of that fact that its not about me getting anything.
This is not a selfish program, it is a self-less program. Once I had a change in perception surrounding this, that nagging selfish feeling of "not getting anything" out of certain meetings went away and I found that the real purpose of the meetings was for me to share about the solution, carry this message we all have of the program of alcoholics anonymous, and try to be of service to other drunks.
The meetings are the fellowship where I go to share my experience, strength, and hope with other alcoholics... the solution, the program, is the book which leads me to a power that relieved me of my obsession to drink.
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
Originally Posted by zbear23
so....I'm in a meeting at my home group when a fellow proceded to hold the meeting hostage through a ten minute exposition of all the pain, misery and hopelessness he felt. He whined and whined, without ever seeming to desire any sort of solution. I must admit to becoming quite irritated...so much so that I nearly left the meeting....which I hardly ever do.
But it seems that I do get what I need...whether that is a god thing or just my universe taking care of me, I don't know, because:
I imediately went to another meeting down the street and, lo and behold, there was the same fellow, who did the same ten minute rant. I was fit to be tied.
After the meeting he asked me to sponsor him.
And I did.
But it seems that I do get what I need...whether that is a god thing or just my universe taking care of me, I don't know, because:
I imediately went to another meeting down the street and, lo and behold, there was the same fellow, who did the same ten minute rant. I was fit to be tied.
After the meeting he asked me to sponsor him.
And I did.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: New England
Posts: 90
Meetings are very helpful for me. I'm not comfortable talking on the phone so I get much of my fellowship from meetings. Of course there are plenty of things said I don't agree with, people who annoy me, etc but I try to always remind myself that whatever they are saying is keeping them sober for the day and may keep me sober someday when my life is different.
If I catch myself resenting a speaker before they've even opened their mouth then I remind myself of the prayer to St Francis (I keep a copy of it in my wallet); to strive to understand rather than strive to be understood, to love rather than seek being loved, etc. This helps me settle down and at least give the speaker a chance. It also focuses my attention towards identifying rather than comparing.
Something I heard as a newcomer that I agree with: "Almost every meeting has at least 3 good minutes, but you don't know which minutes they are."
If I catch myself resenting a speaker before they've even opened their mouth then I remind myself of the prayer to St Francis (I keep a copy of it in my wallet); to strive to understand rather than strive to be understood, to love rather than seek being loved, etc. This helps me settle down and at least give the speaker a chance. It also focuses my attention towards identifying rather than comparing.
Something I heard as a newcomer that I agree with: "Almost every meeting has at least 3 good minutes, but you don't know which minutes they are."
lillyknitting
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Loughton, Essex, England
Posts: 638
After reading some of the messages in this thread I feel very grateful that I am part of SR and part of AA. I am heartened by what people have said about meetings. I have not been going to meetings for a long time now and have had a couple of slip ups. These were horrendous. I know deep down that I am an alcoholic and that I must get on the programme but I have been ambivalent for so long, am now sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. My sponser is coming round tonight and he is taking me through the steps. I am in a good space today and want this help more than anything. Will keep trying. Thanks for everything here I am grateful.
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