courage2

Crowd-sourcing:

I (yes, sigh) am the qualifying speaker at an AA Beginner's meeting tomorrow. Thinking about it (over and over and over) has got me wondering. Regardless of whether you do AA or not, what really helped you, or would have really helped you, when you were first getting sober?

Advice, behaviors, ideas welcome.

Spinach

Today no matter how old or how long you've been drinking is the best day to stop and start a new.
John.

Cowgirlie

Realising how wide-spread alcoholism is and the different walks of life it affects. Challenging the stereotype of a homeless rolling drunk in the gutter and being shown that all walks of life can be affected, including professionals, mothers etc - examples of others in my situation who have really made it work and turned things round. Really, I wish I had found SR earlier!

Sorry not sure if that helps or is the kinda thing you meant. Good luck x

Hope4Life

My sponsors favorite saying:
"The only thing that is not broken on an alcoholic is their forgetter".

Tell them to never forget where they were before they found AA.

Johnsonsober22

The courage of admitting it, facing the truth and be vocal to friends and family... Medical help work really well too... This is my second time, q100 days sober first time, and 16 day now. But I choose not to use AA. Good luck I know you will do great

MIRecovery

I was not a willing participant of AA in the beginning even though I was not court ordered. My wife and IOP psychologist harassed me into going.

What I remember was seeing healthy happy people. More than anything else it showed me life was possible with out alcohol

Olive1

Hi Courage,
My favorite speakers when I first got sober usually told their own stories.....you know, how it was, what I did, how it is now.
I wanted what they had.

Those were the ones that helped me the most.

courage2

Olive1, I do plan to tell my own story -- I'm not really looking for ideas for what I'm going to say, lord knows I have too many of those. I just thought this would be a good thread topic. Thanks!

sugarbear1

ask your higher power for the words someone needs to hear so you can be useful, then speak of your experience, your strength, and your hope.....

SoberLeigh

Courage, be you; be yourself; be the open, honest, caring Courage we at SR know; and tell your story and the importance of sobriety in your life.

You will do beautifully.

Dee74

Don't be afraid to ask for help.
Helping you helps me too

and yeah you'll ace this Courage
D

gleefan

Practical advice on what to do when I had a craving - following the tape through to the end, recognizing the AV, asking for help from other alcoholics.

I know you'll do a lovely job.

fini

courage2,

what helped me was the message that this could be done. what helped me was having my own way respected (i did the non-AA route, and there was encouragement to find one's own way) and not ridiculed. what helped me most of all was having my questions engaged with, tons of conversations. that was all on a forum.

in f2f meetings, what helped was people somehow letting me know i had something to offer (don't quite know exactly how they did that), that i could contribute instead of just "needing", but that "need" was perfectly fine, too. that we all needed. and that someone would be there.

being heard.

(all that was in addition to the practicalities of how to deal with triggers, urges, booze-filled events, feelings rushing at me...but more important, somehow)

MIRecovery

I have been told that you can't say anything wrong when someone wants to hear and you can't say anything right if they don't