Eliasson

I don't know what is going on but I have really been having a hard time being able to sit still thru a whole meeting. I love my home group and the people there and I always get so much out of the meetings. But I spend the whole time antsy and ready to bolt out the door. Last night I actually did that halfway through the meeting! What is going on? How can I learn to be at peace and calm myself enough to make it through the entire meeting ( I was just diagnosed with ADD maybe that has something to do with it?). Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I know I need my meetings to stay sober. Thank you!

Charmie

hi there...you havnt mentioned wether you have a sponsor and are wroking on the steps...however you did say at the end of your post that you need your meetings to stay sober...if you are an alcoholic of my type...ie the type the big book of alcoholics anonymous was written for...then meetings will only keep you afloat for a little while....me...i managed 3 and a half weeks.....i had that restlesness you talk about...for me i found out it was untreated alcoholism...starting with a spiritual malady...which looks like restlessness.....irritibability and discontentedness.....gets too damn sore after a while and nobody in the rooms...even with the best shares can keep me sober.....i have two options....drink OR find someone to help me do the program straight out of the book so i can find a power greater than me...me on my own i dont have the power to stay away from drink...its only a matter of time on meetings alone.

Mark75

Eli...

Have you always been this way, or is this new?

omegasupreme

Welcome neighbor!

some 5th step promises:

We are delighted.

We can look the world in the eye.

We can be alone at perfect peace and ease.

Our fears fall from us.

Time for inventory?

zxcirce

hi
i also have this problem and it may well be a little ADD. i bring a notebook and doodle. it looks like im not paying attention, but it actually focuses me on the words i'm hearing. maybe try that? or taking notes.

DayTrader

VERY common....very very common. The AA book refers to that sort of thing in several places but, more importantly, I see it first hand all the time and even more importantly, I WAS that same person. I don't think there's any quick-fix (heh.....we alkies......we sure are an immediate-gratification lot.....aren't we? ) rather, you just have to wait it out and trust that it will pass.

The teachers I had were pretty direct with me about sitting still, never getting up while the meeting is going and paying attention to others in the same fashion I wanted them to pay attention to me. When I'm all wrapped up in ME, how I feel, what I want, how I want MY table to go, and so on.....it's pretty tough to be at ease and peaceful. Think of this stuff as a practice ground for learning how to try to focus less on yourself and more on others - not a trait that most of us were all that good at.........at first.

I didn't check your last drink date (if you have it on your info) but really, that stuff is very typical for alcoholic folks in the first 6.....maybe even 9 or 12 months. I've seen it last much longer in ppl coming off harder "drugs" and even loooooonger on folks coming off antidepressants / anti-anxiety meds.

CaiHong

Eiiasson,

I get restless as well and was thinking about reading a magazine while the meeting was going on last night, I can listen and read at the same time but knew that would be rude also it is surprising what things you hear that have an effect that I think about later.

Last night one guy was talking about a movie, what he said made me laugh but the leader of the meeting seemed (in my mind ) to disapprove. It was the sort of distraction that got my attention and to be honest was not really useful.

Anyway hang in there, go to meetings, sit up straight and pay attention.

All my love
CaiHong

Tommyh

2 things helped me
the steps
practicing sitting still against my will

DayTrader

yeah, that's the one right there that seems to work. Practicing doing that which is against my will has really opened my eyes to a whooooooole lot of self-centered thinking that I wasn't aware of. It's truly no surprise to me now how my life ended up such a mess - there was little to nothing I did over the past 15 years or more that I didn't "want" to do or feel like doing.

Thank GOD there's a 2nd step to help me with the willingness end of things....cuz a lot of the time, in spite of knowing (in my head) that I need to/should do a particular thing.....I'm still not all that willing. The alternative is to continue doing the wrong thing (or avoiding the "right" thing) until the pain gets so bad that I hit another low bottom in that particular area of my life and get the willingness that way.

The difference now is I really don't want to go through all that BS all that often.