Meetings and the Gym
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The Jungle
Posts: 5,435
Meetings and the Gym
Rambling thoughts this morning.
When I first started going to Nar-anon and Al-anon meetings, I went to figure out how the heck I could get my son clean and sober. Even though I may have SAID that's not why I was going....truthfully....that's why.
As I think about that today, Nar-anon or Al-anon meetings are like going to the gym. You know you should do it but it's so hard to get motivated. It takes a while to see results and if you don't keep going, you won't see any results. It's so easy to stop going.....to the gym and to meetings.
If I was going to the gym, hoping that the exercises I was doing would make someone else fit and healthy.....it just wouldn't make a lot of sense. No one actually THINKS that way......but for some reason, many of us go to meetings believing that somehow that will make our loved one "well".
Meetings and the gym.....same thing. So if you're like me, getting there is half the battle. Once I put on my workout clothes, get in my car and get to the gym, I'm going to do the work. Getting to a meeting is also half the battle. Going back time and time again is another part of the battle. Getting over the fear of walking through the door the first time is a part of the battle.......just like going to your first Zumba class. lol
It is suggested that we "bring the body and the mind will follow". And it does. And after a while of doing that, we can see results. And we like what we see and feel. At the gym, we become stronger, more toned, flexible and healthier. At meetings, we become stronger, healthier, and find joy again.
How the heck can we expect the addict in our lives to get "fit and healthy" if we aren't able to do it ourselves? Do as I say not as I do? The addict has the problem, not us? Really? How many excuses can we come up with NOT to go to the gym or NOT to go to meetings?
I want to challenge any of you who have not been to a meeting to go. And keep going for several meetings. Don't expect results from one meeting or two. It doesn't work that way. Just like the gym....until you've gone for a while many times, you will not see results. Open your heart. Open your mind. And you might just be surprised.....and find joy along the way.
That is my shameless plug for meetings for today.
gentle hugs to you all
ke
When I first started going to Nar-anon and Al-anon meetings, I went to figure out how the heck I could get my son clean and sober. Even though I may have SAID that's not why I was going....truthfully....that's why.
As I think about that today, Nar-anon or Al-anon meetings are like going to the gym. You know you should do it but it's so hard to get motivated. It takes a while to see results and if you don't keep going, you won't see any results. It's so easy to stop going.....to the gym and to meetings.
If I was going to the gym, hoping that the exercises I was doing would make someone else fit and healthy.....it just wouldn't make a lot of sense. No one actually THINKS that way......but for some reason, many of us go to meetings believing that somehow that will make our loved one "well".
Meetings and the gym.....same thing. So if you're like me, getting there is half the battle. Once I put on my workout clothes, get in my car and get to the gym, I'm going to do the work. Getting to a meeting is also half the battle. Going back time and time again is another part of the battle. Getting over the fear of walking through the door the first time is a part of the battle.......just like going to your first Zumba class. lol
It is suggested that we "bring the body and the mind will follow". And it does. And after a while of doing that, we can see results. And we like what we see and feel. At the gym, we become stronger, more toned, flexible and healthier. At meetings, we become stronger, healthier, and find joy again.
How the heck can we expect the addict in our lives to get "fit and healthy" if we aren't able to do it ourselves? Do as I say not as I do? The addict has the problem, not us? Really? How many excuses can we come up with NOT to go to the gym or NOT to go to meetings?
I want to challenge any of you who have not been to a meeting to go. And keep going for several meetings. Don't expect results from one meeting or two. It doesn't work that way. Just like the gym....until you've gone for a while many times, you will not see results. Open your heart. Open your mind. And you might just be surprised.....and find joy along the way.
That is my shameless plug for meetings for today.
gentle hugs to you all
ke
Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: massachusetts
Posts: 121
Originally Posted by hello-kitty 
I need to get my big ol booty to the gym. I find running and exercise very therapeutic. It's time spent on me. Alone with me. Doing just for me.
Me too! Its definately one of the best forms of therapy.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 317
Thank you, I have been to 3 meetings and going to #4 tomorrow night!
It is so hard for me to accept that I need help too, but I know I do.
I have hurt family and friends and lied to them , and let my own responsibilities slip in the name of helping my AS.
My life is out of control because of this, and naranon is a life saver for me.
Thanks for your post
It is so hard for me to accept that I need help too, but I know I do.
I have hurt family and friends and lied to them , and let my own responsibilities slip in the name of helping my AS.
My life is out of control because of this, and naranon is a life saver for me.
Thanks for your post
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The Jungle
Posts: 5,435
Originally Posted by December2011
Thank you, I have been to 3 meetings and going to #4 tomorrow night!
It is so hard for me to accept that I need help too, but I know I do.
I have hurt family and friends and lied to them , and let my own responsibilities slip in the name of helping my AS.
My life is out of control because of this, and naranon is a life saver for me.
Thanks for your post
It is so hard for me to accept that I need help too, but I know I do.
I have hurt family and friends and lied to them , and let my own responsibilities slip in the name of helping my AS.
My life is out of control because of this, and naranon is a life saver for me.
Thanks for your post
I look back at my thoughts and behaviors and there is no doubt in my mind that I was every bit as sick as the addict. Maybe sicker.
The saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" describes the path I was on. I had every good intention in the world to "make" my son stop using drugs and make him do things "the right way" (that's my way.....lol). I AM an addict. I am a codependent. My drug of choice is 5'10" tall, dark haired, dark eyed, handsome, smart and funny. I think I became addicted to him the moment I gave birth to him. NOT healthy.....for either one of us.
I hope someday I will be well enough to be around him without "cravings" and stumbling back into my old behaviors. But it will take time.....one day at a time..... I love him. I will always love him. But I don't want to feel like I use to feel anymore. I want to step away from the addict and give him the dignity to live his life the way he chooses. And if he insists on behaving in a manner that is unhealthy for me, I know that I have the right to protect and take care of myself first.
gentle hugs
ke
Nature Girl
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Good thoughts, Kindeyes. That describes perfectly how it was for me for about the first year of meetings. After that it became part of my lifestyle.
The nights I struggled most with going were often the night when I heard something I needed to hear. Or I somehow opened up to share something that maybe someone else needed to hear.
Although it was hard to make myself go when I was tired or just not in the mood...never once, not once, did I ever regret going. I was always better for the meeting.
Hugs
The nights I struggled most with going were often the night when I heard something I needed to hear. Or I somehow opened up to share something that maybe someone else needed to hear.
Although it was hard to make myself go when I was tired or just not in the mood...never once, not once, did I ever regret going. I was always better for the meeting.
Hugs
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: The Jungle
Posts: 5,435
The good part about meetings and the gym. Once I got use to going (to the gym--I do yoga classes--and to meetings), I no longer had motivational issues. Both have become a necessary part of my routine. I LIKE the way I feel. I LIKE myself better. I know that I am getting healthy in mind, body and spirit.
Hmmmm.....if I had to choose to go to meetings or to the gym.....I think I'd pick meetings. My mind and spirit are the most important things to me and I think exercise helps those areas too but my meetings are more critical to my overall wellbeing. I know that I will go to meetings and read literature from Nar-anon and Al-anon for the rest of my life. I'll never graduate from the University of Me......but I'll always take classes.
gentle hugs
ke
Hmmmm.....if I had to choose to go to meetings or to the gym.....I think I'd pick meetings. My mind and spirit are the most important things to me and I think exercise helps those areas too but my meetings are more critical to my overall wellbeing. I know that I will go to meetings and read literature from Nar-anon and Al-anon for the rest of my life. I'll never graduate from the University of Me......but I'll always take classes.
gentle hugs
ke
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