My third AA meeting
 

Was reading from the blue book followed by open discussion, it is held at my former college. It was in the building where I took Spanish back in the day. This meeting I really liked......it was mostly women and I shared about my recent car accident and how I hope to recover my former self by adding more tools to my toolbox. There another one there tomorrow morning and I've already set my alarm so I can be there. There was absolutely no discussion about God and this is a catholic school. The people were honest and engaged .....I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning s meeting. Day 4. I have had no withdrawal symptoms. I've been sleeping, my mood is normal and I'm not aggravated about a thing. I have faith it's all going to work out.

That is awesome!!! Congratulations!!! We are here to support you and it's so nice hearing the positive feedback from your meetings!!!

Glad it went well, Debbie. Sounds as though you may have found the right group for you.

Way to go debbie, keep going back and don't drink. Sobriety is such a treat. Your going to love it. Just don't drink. Period.

I'm glad to hear that you have found a meeting you like. Keep going back!

Hi Debbie - glad to hear you're feeling more hopeful.

Yes, meeting venue isn't really any indicator of how religious or not the people in it will be. AA in self-supporting so tends to go for cheap rooms that will be available long term. In the UK that tends to mean church owned halls or meeting rooms. All the meetings I attend on a regular basis are in (various) church owned venues - but very few AAers I know have a Christian God (or God from any organised religion) as their Higher Power.

Anyway - I hope you wake up with that hope still with you, and that Meeting Number 4 will be a good one for you :)

Beccybean......I'm not making it to the 4th meeting today.......I woke up too late. BUT........I finally found an ACA meeting this morning in my town.....its at 8:30 AM .......I hope I can make this meeting because it's the root of my problem.

That is absolutely wonderful Debbie. Im so happy that you genuinely see positive stuff in them.

The big book is the main literature in AA and the first 164 pages are where the 12 steps are in. I have pages for each steps if u want.. Just ask me and I'm happy to write it out for your reference. The other pages are stories of different ppl coming into program that you may identify with. We are all mirrors of each other and to me anyone in recovery "gets" me and I feel like I fit in. My friends not in the program feels more superficial. I don't like having to pretend someone I'm not and I just love that in AA we brag in the other direction.. How many DUIs, how many divorce, how many job loss.. And we find these fascinating. Normal people just don't get us. Anyway, I know you are court ordered but if u place your heart to learn for you rather than doing it for the court, you will learn some beautiful things that make life a beautiful nourishing place to live. It has been for me. I feel so lucky and I have learned to laugh again. Hope you find some good nuggets too.

Aca?

ACA.......adult children of alcoholics........it is the root of my problem. I had a terrible childhood.......both parents were alkies.........ACA people have a more complicated path to recovery.......I believe anyways........a lot of the behaviors they display have been learned through living in a world of dysfunction. But we don't live in that world anymore and we have to rid ourselves of these defects. I'm pissed that I have to fix myself due to someone's irresponsibility........I'm very upset today......my bank account is overdrawn because I loaned money to someone who didn't pay me back. That's an ACA move.......because ACAs can't stand to see people suffer or be unhappy.......we sacrifice ourselves and cause more suffering for ourselves. I have been working on fixing myself for five years now. I'm definitely better because of it but I'm still not right.

Ahhh.

CoDa might also be useful for you then. Their handbook really helped me to understand some of my erratic behaviours and reactions. Esp people-pleasing tendencies.

Is the ACA a 12-step meeting as well?

What's coda.....for codependent people? I don't know what kind of meeting this is but it's closed to ACAs only........it's the only one of its kind in my county....good news.....it's less that a mile away.

Yes - CoDependents. A lot of ACAs and people who grew up in other kinds of dysfunctional families find it helpful.

That's so lucky that the meeting is close enough for you to get to. Did you go already, of is it later? I get confused with the time difference (it's just gone 8pm here in the UK).

I didn't go yet it's tomorrow morning......bright and early at 8:30 am.......I'm curious about what kind of people will be there........it's not in the best section of town......but I'm going come hell or high water........thanks for your help beccybean.

The town I live in has the 3rd largest st Patrick's day crowd in the USA......maybe 100,000 people will come. It's a drinking town, always has been.....even the cops get arrested for DUI occasionally.

Well, good luck. You've got a good 'adventurer' attitude to trying different meetings. Maybe I'll try some different ones next week while I'm on the school holiday as well. :)

That's what I am too.. so glad you found a meeting Debbie. Unfortunately for me there's nothing even remotely close to an ACA meeting here in SE Asia.

Advbike....I found it on the web try.....meetings.adultchildren.org.........you can search by country, then state or providence if that's what they call them over there.

Thanks Debbie. Nothing here in Philippines, looks like there's one in Thailand, in Phuket. Next time I'm in Thailand I might try to catch it. Easiest would be to return to the States. I didn't really understand about all of the AC issues until I was over a year sober, and had moved here.

It's not crippling, but it does distort all my perceptions, which fires up my ego, hence my focus on observing my thoughts, and mindfulness. Cheers.