chrisj728

An AA friend of mine with 17 yrs sobriety has recently told me that I can never reach true sobriety because by using Sober Recovery I'm not keeping it simple.
He even went as far as to say that Bill & Bob never had the internet to get the first 100 sober.So there should be no reason to use any other method,only the Big Book.
I explained that I used the board as a tool, just as I use the tools that AA has given me to stay sober.
So is he a great old timer that should be listend to or just missguided in his lack of understanding. ?

chris

teej

If he joined SR, he would have a different out look. I'd bet the farm on it. My advice??? Stay on the board!!!!!!!!!!!, go to AA, do anything that is all about abstinence (about booze anyway )
Well I'm off to get in the shower. I'm so addicted to buying buttons on ebay, but I guess I do need to shower hehe! going now>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

1_day@_a_time

I have found, repeatedly, I MUST have an open mind to get & stay sober.

Anna

Hi Chris,

It sounds like your 'friend' has a very narrow way of thinking. Perhaps that is what has worked for him. SR is a great asset to anyone who is trying to get sober. Everyone is different, and AA works well for many, but there are other options. I do not use AA and I have been in recovery for over 6 years and I have been around SR for almost 4 years. Do whatever it takes for you to get sober and stay sober.

Rowan

Well-intentioned, perhaps, but needs to widen that mind a wee bit

Stay here!

Nuudawn

Um..yep, I will echo the sentiment of others..an open mind is integral to my recovery. I am deeply grateful for my involvment in AA but I also read books on addiction and human development which is not AA based. When I moved cities, I was incredibly thankful that I had the continuity of the SR community when the new AA was foreign to me.
I don't have a heck of a lot of tolerance for AA absolutists (gotta work on that I guess..lol)...as a matter of fact I was recently reading a letter written my Bill W. that stated that it was not the intention of AA to be the only step in recovery but perhaps the first step.
The beauty of the program is how it continually strives to include...not exclude. There were many, many amendments in the beginning as a mean of not turning potential members off....to open the program to as many as possible.
Bill W. was an out of the box thinker. In my mind, there should be no cages in AA.

Sheryl85

Time marches on and new things become available. The Twelve and Twelve wasn't written until 1955. I use it. The "Twenty-Four Hours A Day" book is not GSO approved literature, but I've used it for over twenty-one years. There is a bunch of AA literature out there now days that obviously wasn't there at the beginning. Does this mean that all these tools can't be used? Does this mean I haven't made it to true sobriety? (i think I'm pretty safe on that last one...)

Technology is a wonderful "tool", hon. Use it if it's helpful you. By the way, when the Big Book was first written they hadn't made it to the moon yet. Wonder what his take is on that one!

katwomankc

openmindedness is the spirtual princple that helps me to stay clean and sober. what works for some may not work for others. that is how i see it. my program may not work for you but it does work for me.... anyhow i say keep on board. i like posting here. and it is whatever helps you stay one more minute clean than so be it.... thanks i am kimmie a addict

Aysha

I dont know too much about meetings..Or recovery for that matter. Because this is my first actual attempt at really doing it. And my little 3weeks is the longest I have gone in over a year.
But I will tell you this. I have yet to go to a live meeting..even tho I keep being told I should.
If it wasnt for this board and the online NA meetings I attend everynight in the safety of my home. I would have been high weeks ago.
Sometimes the old saying you cant teach an old dog new tricks applyswell.
No disrespect to the old timer but I stand by this board with my life!

gypsytears

Just because Bill & Bob didn't have the internet then doesn't mean they wouldn't have utilized it if available imo.

Your friend is a great old timer to be listened to surely, he's probably just set in his ways. What's that saying? Take what you need and leave the rest?

nogard

Stay here and give him a cuddle

I dig a hole with a shovel my neighbour digs a hole with an excavator, which hole is better?

stone

Hi chris, I bet he doesn't like spinning jennies either, was he wearing sabot's?
Seriously though surely sobriety is about finding and using what works for you?.

CarolD

Most of my current home group
never have used inter net recovery sites.

I find it's a great supplement to my
F2F recovery and
I go to 4 or so meetings
weekly with the nay sayers.

They too scoff but I merely
and ignore their gibes.

This month I will celebrate 18 years
and I have been active on line for 15.

Dang! I must be doing ok..
And so are you!!

Blessings

sylandad

It is your recovery.......

I use whatever tools necessary to stay sober........

I think you are doing the right thing.

David D

Surlyredhead

The more support and recovery tools the better!!!!

ayla zaire

guess the old standby applies.......take what you need and leave the rest....you gotta do what you gotta do to stay sober......

plus, you would be sorely missed by one ayla boop! and many more, i'm sure.........you don't only use sr as a tool, but each post gives back some of your wisdom and experience for someone else who needs it..........

hugs
ayla