48heath

AA is woldwide,unfortunately though not everybody is lucky enough to be able to get to meetings easily.

I met a man on a Greek Island,when he went to a meeting he had to get a ferry,a plane and a bus to get to an AA meeting in Athens.No way could he do 90 meetings in 90 days.

If you can't physically get to a meeting,call someone in the fellowship,read the Big Book,visit SR,all sorts you can do and of course,stay away from tthe first drink.

Wishing you well.

tomsteve

meeting times vary by geographic locations. higher populated areas typically have more meetings of different hours of the day.
there could be meetings at different hours that arent on the meeting list for your area. ya might want to ask some folks at meetings if they are aware of meetings in those time frames.

thats quite a full plate in the evenings.

any chance the college kids can step up and start helping some?maybe they can be responsible for dinner a couple nights a week? maybe hubby can? maybe they can help get people to their destinations??

Stayingsassy

Let me say this: right now, I am loving my sobriety. I'm feeling proud of the person I am and enjoying my responsibilities, I am not wallowing in the past.

My body and brain are so relaxed because I sleep like a baby, can I say I totally forgot what it feels like to have a healthy and rested body and it feels like a miracle.

Also I know about the pink cloud and its dangers. Just also want to revel in this awhile, I was a damaging and serious binge drinker. Feels like a new life.

Finally able to just put my job down for the day...what an intense 24 hours. Carving out that hour for today!

aasharon90

As an at home mom at the time with 2 little ones,
marriage, family, noon meetings were perfect for
me. So many folks that worked were taking time
out of their lunch hour to make those noon meetings.

I also had to learn to ask for what I needed. Asking
for help is so important, even tho I wanted to do it
all myself.

Since family sent me into rehab via a family
intervention, getting me help I so desperately
needed at that time in my life, and didn't realize
how sick I really was, they stepped in placing
me into the hands of those capable of teaching
me about my alcohol addiction and give me the
gift of a recovery program to incorporate in all
areas of my life, I used them to help with the
kids as selfishly as it seemed to me.

I actually had to swallow my pride and ask
them to watch my 2 when ever I needed a
meeting.

We learn to make changes in our lives
and find balance in all we do. I wanted to
learn how to remain sober more than ever
and would do whatever I needed to do
until I actually wanted to do them.

No one in my little family died or was left
out or missed anything while I learned how
to live a sober life. In fact, none of my family
missed a beat as they all went on to grow
and mature into healthy happy adults,
eventually leaving the nest and forming
families of their own.

This journey ive been on has raised 2 beautiful,
normal healthy adults, ending a 25 yr marriage,
remarrying 8 yrs with 27 yrs sobriety all with
willingness, openmindedness to complete honesty
and an on going recovery maintenance program
and Faith as my guideline for a many one days
sober at a time.

Sobriety is and always will be top priority
in my life for without it I would surely be
drunk, crazy or dead.

Of course this is how it works and
continues to work for me.

Stayingsassy

Yes, I've wondered if my meeting finder app is not giving me all the meetings possible.

In my job I typically work through my lunch hour so that I am home when my youngest gets home.

And yes you are right about the college kids. One of them works and attends classes, so she really can't help. The other one can help on days her class load is lighter. They don't really do all that well with dinner/homework help/ getting youngest to her evening activities but that may be a case of me just wanting to do it all.

Husband does help when he gets home if I am at a meeting, but he's home later in the evening than me because his job is full time, so he has helped and handled it all when I did evening AA because he saw the need..but it's a scramble for him.

Most nights honestly by 8:30 pm....I'm in bed nearly asleep. Drinking I would stay up at all hours, getting by on 3-4 hours sleep....how in heck did our bodies do that? sober I am quite exhausted...maybe I will be more awake at night later on in sobriety and able to get in nighttime meetings. Morning meetings only go as early as 6:30 though which means I can't get youngest ready for school, wish they had some super early ones.

SoberCAH

Your first sentence says it all.

When I was in the last 5 or so years of my active alcoholism, I probably spent at least 40 hours a week in bars and taverns and felt tired and hung-over all the time.

I followed the advice they gave me in treatment to do 90 meetings in 90 days, even though I would rather have been home with the remote control in my hand.

The 90 in 90 regimen for me was like a complete immersion into the AA program following my 5 week stay in treatment.

After that, I went to 5 meetings per week for the next 5 years.

And I still go, I work the steps everyday, I read our literature, I work with other drunks all the time, and I work hard at a relationship with God on a daily basis (the 11th Step).

It has worked for me for 29 years now, and I don't plan to change a thing, except to work even harder at my participation in AA at all levels.

Others' mileage may vary, and I'm sympathetic to newcomers not wanting to do 90 in 90.

But I still think it's a great idea, because it certainly worked for me.

tomsteve

giving the college kids responsibilities now can have the added benefit for them for when its time to leave the nest- it can help them llearn how to be responsible and help others,too.
there was a time when i didnt do that well with woodworking. i didnt get gooder by having someone else do the woodworking for me- i did the work myself. if someone else did the work, i wouldnt have learned through practice.

Gottalife

Just my experience, I took 90 in 90 to be a metaphor for total immersion in aa. I did about 80 meetings and the first ten steps in that period, and never drank again.

I have seen people do more meetings and no steps and they end up drunk.

I have seen people do a lot less meetings and all the steps, and they seem to stay sober.

My experience is we recover by the steps we take, not the meetings we make. My suggestion is to find a sponsor and work those steps, sooner rather than later.

Stayingsassy

So after having a whole day off, and catching up a bit, I went to 8pm AA at my favorite place, ironically: the lgbtq meeting. I gave the women's meeting that I kind of liked another try Monday and just, nope. The woman speaking at the beginning went on and on about how no one wants to be her sponsee so that's why she was telling her story, and it was a good story, but thing is even after 20 years sobriety this woman was sad. She was sad and blocked. I could see immediately why she couldn't get a sponsee, but couldn't tell her of course. Anyway tonight at my fave lbgtq meeting, there were jokes among the sincerity, there was some raucous laughter, there was a lot of open honesty....not couched honesty...,can totally tell the difference....there were a lot of F-bombs, like a lot, and I shared about my travel triggers, and my always needing to be busy. Afterward I actually wanted to talk, and we all started exchanging a bunch of numbers, even newcomer to newcomer as well as those with more sobriety. Fun time.

People should shop around with AA. They really should. I've been to some that make me want to quit the program. And then there are those like tonight.

Anyway. Thanks for everyone's thoughts today. Still shopping around for that sponsor. I feel like the universe will send that to me when it's time, of course everyone in there thinks it's time now and maybe it is, who knows? I'm 17 days sober. I know very little.

August252015

First, glad you circled back with us! That particular meeting does sound like one I'd enjoy too (and for me, womens' meetings have felt like....covens....ick).

Second, I do agree that people should find meetings that feel like they "fit"- because it is important to look for and find similarities with others, rather than differences. BUT - IMO and IME, we cannot let any meeting be the "why" of our choice to drink or not.

You've got 17 days- you are asking good questions, you are open to what others have to say - good job so far. Getting a sponsor will be a perfect next step.

Take care
A

Mountainmanbob

Where did do 90 in 90 come from?
I don't know but, have seen it work well for many.

Once I did 1,350 meetings in 1,250 days.
All documented on court slips.

M-Bob

paulokes

Some folks (raises hand!) have obsessive minds when they first sober up. I heard the 90 in 90 thing, and I latched on to it. It became like a useful target. Some days I would miss a day some days I would do two to make up....

Looking back maybe I didn't need to do it but it has certainly been part of my sobriety and it helped to get me immersed in AA which became a good thing.

I don't tell people to do this, I tell them to relax of they find it impossible but if ya can do it it certainly won't hurt!

It isn't an 'official' AA thing...it's just become part of the culture since it was introduced by rehab and the court system AFAIK.

P