Iloow

I was a bit nervous at first and had the deafest security guard in the world having to guide me to where it was. I stood outside the room for what seemed to be an eternity and then realised that I was outside the wrong room. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I sat in and listened to peoples Shares and found some parts of each story applicable to me. I thought it would be full of people I would have nothing in common with, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of people my own age and as the meeting progressed it soon became evident that we all had something in common. Our shared alcoholism and for some of us a shared history of misuse of narcotics. I found it a very positive experience, and even as I am agnostic, I was not put off by the spiritual side of it.

I am going to my next meeting tomorrow afternoon and hope to contribute something this time.

A final thing I learned was that as bad as I thought I had it some, if not most of the people in the room had suffered bad experiences as well.


I still had a few problems with keeping my panic attacks under the surface and had a bit of a bad one on the walk home but I am not letting this put me off.

Thanks for letting me share anyway.

Tom

Anna

Hi Tom,

I am glad you're working on your recovery.

JohnPainter

Tom,

Your experience of your first meeting is so similar to mine, I just wanted to encourage you to keep going. I don't know what the schedule is like in your area, but around Buffalo, NY there are meetings all over the place, at different times of day, every day. I had no job, no money, no car, and no one else to spend time with in my early sobriety, so my life pretty much consisted of therapy twice a week and 3 AA meetings each day. that might sound extreme, but the help I got early on really saved my life. I was a low-bottom alcoholic and addict. three years have passed since my last drink. I have a job, friends both inside and outside of AA, a car, and a life I can be proud of again. best of luck to you.

Iloow

The meetings are harder to get to around here as the bus links aren't actually that great, but I am planning on attending at least one meeting a week, coupled with a visit to my alcohol councillor. I have not reached the bottom as I still have my partner, my son and my family, but I have virtually lost my job because of alcohol and drugs, so I really need the support from AA.

This place was also invaluable in me getting up the bottle (no pun intended) to go to that first meeting.

I am actually looking forward to tomorrow, which is the first time for a long time.

HideorSeek

Hi there! Keep going to meetings is my advice! It can be hard to walk in the door, but once there, I ALWAYS feel better. AA people are some of the most honest, caring supportive people I have ever met. And here at SR, what can I say? Where can you get support like this 24/7? Because of this being a global community, you can even get answers today that were posted yesterday and tomorrow (international dateline)

Astro

Tom, I'm glad to hear you made it to your first meeting and hope you continue to find some inspiration for your recovery in AA. I've been trying to make it to at least one meeting a day for over 3 years, AA is a lifeline and the members are like family to me.

CarolD

As we say down here in Dixieland....
Bless your heart...I'm sooo tickled for you Tom!

SoBearish

Great job!! I'm glad it was a good experience for you.

DSodaNow

It sounds like you went in with an open mind. I think each person takes from AA what works for them. (Not to say that you should manipulate the program.)

Keep going! I think you will continue to find more and more comfort and support.

Rella927

Wooli this is awesome! Glad that you went and got something from it!

Keep up the great work!!

stone

That's cool Tom.

wellgrrl

Congrats...

I've never been to one yet. I am chicken, too! Maybe someday. I went to an AA meeting online and liked it, though.

LogCabin

That is great. hey, don't worry about WHAT Higher Power you have. Just keep an open ear, and feel the comfort of being with people who understand you, and have been there.

signed,

An Atheist AAer. (My higher powers are the Group Of Drunks, and the universe, and that works perfectly for me.)

Kristina

Tom, congratulations on making it to your first meeting! I finally went to my first meeting last week, and like you, I was nervous at first but found that I had things in common with people there, and that their stories were a lot like mine, even though I thought there'd be no one like me.

Good for you!

Iloow

Thanks for all the kind messages. The hardest thing I had to do was to walk through those doors and the rest as they say is history. I am determined to stay sober and hopefully live the rest of my life as a non drinker.

MnStar

Way to go Tom!! It sounds like you have what it takes.

Krissy41

Tom glad to meet you and glad you are here. You are on your way. :ghug

Jules62

I smiled reading your posts Tom.It reminded me so much of my first meeting too.I felt so self conscious-and scared-but it was such a relief to be in a room full of people who 'got it'.I'm so glad you're doing this for yourself.Congrats!

Iloow

Thanks all.

I am off to my second one today and am going to one tomorrow. It's great being able to think about more than just today.

Iloow

I am back from my second meeting and yet again I have had such a positive experience. There were two people there from the last meeting and 7 or 8 new faces. From the main share I found that there were a lot of parallels between he drinking and mine. The need to blame some event in your life and put that down for your alcoholism.

I also shared a little part of my drinking habits and was as honest as I could be. At the end of the day there were negative events in both myself and my partners life and whereas she coped with it, I felt the need to drink. Nobody else put that drink to my mouth other than me and it felt good to speak that for the first time. I was sick of lying, sick of the way it was making me feel and through AA I have finally found a group of people who are like me, who I can speak to honestly and openly about my issues.

Whether people think it is for them or it isn't, it is worth that one or two sessions to see if it is right for you and if it isn't then meh, what have you lost? An couple of hours out of the day where you would otherwise be drinking or thinking about drink.