maybetoday

OK so I am ready to admit I am powerless over alcohol. I was on here about a year ago and went to a couple meetings and then tried to do it on my own again. It didn't work. Here I am again, on bended knee. I want to stop, I want a sober life. I want to be free. I want to start going to meetings. What type is the best one to try?

carl11

Well, first welcome back….I am new to sobriety as well, I do know I had 47 days dry, then started to slip going to AA meetings and , well, I back slid….I was going 4 days a week and have started again…

As for types of meetings….for me, AA- I go to a mens only meeting once a week, my Friday meeting was a general sharing meeting, which they just changed to a big book meeting,….I go to veterans of alcohol meeting as well..


good luck and keep posting...

Anna

Hi,

Welcome back!

I am glad you are committed to living a sober life.

Missymae737

Hi Maybetoday,

Glad you made it back to us...

As far as meetings go, it is like shopping around for the best bargain...There are different types such as Open meetings, Discussion groups, Big Book, 12th Step, Living sober groups and so on...All groups offer support...At first you may feel uncomfortable but this will go away...You will know what meetings suit you...

Keep posting...

maybetoday

Other helpful tips? I asked my bf not to bring alc into the house. Any other ideas on how to have a good first week? Any things I should expect?

Anna

What worked for me was changing my daily routines and patterns. I had to plan to be doing something different, at the time of the day I would have been drinking. Altering the routines seemed to help begin to break the habit for me and it made it easier.

Keep reading and posting.

CarolD

Glad you are back..

Keeping no alcohol around is wise.
So is planning to attend meetings again.

I suggest you find a Newcomers group
if possible.
I always like early a.m. meetings
to start my day with a positive action.

Hugs

Jersey Nonny

I always liked to mix them up...and was lucky to have many different meetings in my area. Let me think back to my weekly routine: four open speaker meetings in the evening, a Big Book discussion meeting in the evening, weekends were loaded - Saturday, 10:30 AM closed discussion, 12 Noon Open, 2:00 PM women's discussion, 9:00 PM open speaker - Sunday 2:00 PM open discussion, 7:30 PM open speaker. I often made lunchtime meetings, too.

maybetoday

What is a newcomers meeting? How is that coded on the list B for beginners? And what about closed meetings?

Tazman53

Welcome back maybetoday!
No booze or the like around early on is a very good idea. Here is 1 that I have found to be very helpful:

1. Forget about that first week, just get up in the morning and drop to your knees whether you have a Higher Power or not and ask for the power to not drink today!

Today.... the present is all I or any one else has full control over.Yesterday is gone and as a result there is nothing I can change about it. Today if my disease starts trying to convince me that I can drink I simply decide that I will wait until tomorrow because I have chose not to drink today.

At the end of the day drop to your knees again and thank your HP or anything that you have made it through the day sober.

Repeat the above daily!

Okay now what types of meetings to go to...... well I would highly reccommend calling your local AA and explain that you are looking for meetings that would be good for some one new to AA and go from there.

Once you have a few meetings to start with try and get to the meeting about 10-15 minutes early and try and be able to stay a little late. When I was new in AA I found this very helpful, talking to people before meetings let me feel a little more secure going in the door and sitting down and staying a little late allowed me to ask questions one on one about things I didn't understand.

When the meeting is going on listen for things people say that you can relate to, do not listen for differences, trust me all alcoholics are different, but we also have an awful lot of things in common whether we are a lawyer or a barber, a man or a woman, rich or poor, black or white, aethiest/agnostic or religous, in order to begin recovery we need to realize that there are things we all have in common.

Rowan

Welcome back!

Hevyn

I think it's so confusing because in our heart of hearts we want to believe we can control it and be social drinkers. Some of us go to our graves still believing that (Like my husband).

Congratulations on coming to your senses and trying again. I am heading to my 6th week and it's been a rollercoaster but I'm still making it, thanks mainly to reading & posting on here.

downhill77

Hi Maybe,


Just wanted to let you know your are definitely not alone. I am on 48 hours, working my way up to 72 Went to a meeting today for the first time in months. I was soooo nervous before I walked in the door but that all seemed to evaporate once the speaker started. I even suprised myself and shared. Just wanted to let you know that I admire the decision you have made, and I really hope the best for you.

maybetoday

It is day 3 and i feel ok when i just focus on the present. I know that i am not drinking now and I do not plan to drink tonight. When i try to think about this weekend or some other social event, I feel sick with the idea of not having a drink. And I am starting to feel some anger at my bf on the rise. He just doesn't seem to get how important this is. WHich is weird as he has been the brunt of so many drunken tirades. Why wouldn't he be jumping over tables to help me stay sober?

Hevyn

He probably knows his whole life is about to change & he feels threatened. Maybe he knows it's time for him to look at his own drinking and he's not ready for that. I know when my husband began having really bad problems I would only encourage him to cut down - didn't want the party to end, couldn't imagine sober vacations, holidays, etc. I wish I'd done things differently - I was the classic enabler.

Anna

It's hard to say why your boyfriend is acting that way. I think people often fear change, even if it is good. One thing that I found early on, was that I had to do this for myself. Yes, my family wanted me to get better, but they weren't going to help. That's why coming here is helpful because we do understand.