trigirl71

I went to my first meeting last night. Walking through the door was the hard part but I am so glad I did it. Just knowing that I am not alone as I start this journey is comforting. I am still terrified of having to be totally honest with myself. I have been avoiding that for years. It is so hard to feel like "I don't know who I am". I am emotionally wiped out and physically feeling sick to my stomach and no appetite. Guess this must be par for the course.

DarrenW

Good for you. Yes, the hardest part is the first time- walking through the door, feeling everyone is staring at you, etc. Its just like anything else really. Well done!

Anna

Good for you, and don't forget that SR is also a great place for support.

england

It took me 2 days to build up the courage to attend a CA meeting, but I am so glad I did as everybody is really supportive and helpful. Some of the people I have spoken to seem to know exactly how I am feeling and its great to know that there is a bigger support network out there.

I've only been to 3 meetings and am on stage 1 - need to think about looking for a sponsor in the next few weeks.

This support on this site is also helpful during the nights when I am not at a meeting

Ozzie69

My first meeting again, for the fourth time in many years was like coming home. Listening to the stories of others really helped me. I was finally ready and I really wanted what they had. Today I am on day 20, and I would not be there without the comfort and support of those in the groups.

Congratulations!!!! Keep Coming Back

CRAZE

Good for you!
Planning on attending my first meeting this evening.

Itchy

Yep I used AA for the first three months I was sober. I recommend them to everybody as they have something for everybody. Maybe everything for another. Between AA and SR one can't go far wrong to get sober. Some continue one or both or more, others something totally different. None of knows until we get a bit more solid in our recovery. I started with everything and now pretty much just use SR. So it was not an issue of being shy or afraid of others finding out, for me. My recovery was not conditional on it being so comfortable that no change occurred. I was smart enough to know that I could not go from out of control alcoholic who couldn't quit the easy way daily, by doing the comfortable things that never worked before.

Funny thing is once I got over that feeling of wanting to stay hidden and afraid of others judging me, I found that none of it was hard or difficult either. Like everybody already said the hardest part was walking in for the first time. And no I don't shout it from the rooftops or make a point of it unless I am asked specifically. Other than that I am just a non drinker and a non smoker. Everybody understands those two. Getting help doesn't mean losing your self respect. Alcohol already took that long before and everybody knows that, who have been through it. Getting help means getting our self respect back. The respect of others never comes until we have our own respect anyway.

See we each judged ourselves as we judged those others as bums at one time in our lives before we thought we were one of them too. For those it is surprising when they find that many other people don't judge. And that the real judgment they were running from was their own self assessment once sober. That is where the real help comes in.

AA and SR don't care if you judge us harshly as a group. We do care deeply that you stop judging yourself.

I have my dignity and self respect back. You can all now have my respect. But I can't give it if I don't have some to give of my own can I?