anyone here go to A.A.?
Living in sobriety
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 3,870
I finally threw in the towel & joined AA , after a long struggle with alcohol. I tried everything a person could think of to sort out my problem. councilling, self help books, support from family, etc etc You see I really did not want to join AA because first of all my husband was in it and I had bashed it in many of our heated debates .....and secondly I felt there was great shame in being an alcoholic especially if you were a woman...I was concerned that everyone would know (never concerned me when I was falling down the street drunk,fact is they knew anyway)
I was full of pride, ego, and had all sorts of notions but one day I messed up again and I was sick and tired of been sick and tired. I joined AA april 1998 and I wont say my life got better, I would rather say my life started!! I heard people actually sharing stuff that I had also done & I was able to identify with so many people.Everyone had there own story but we had or were all suffering the ravaging effects of alcoholism. There were people there like me new, shaky and full of fear & then there was people there a while & they were laughing & having fun( something I had not done sober for a long time)They seemed to be free & confident & I was attracted to that... I wanted what they had...they were happy without drink!!!! I was glad it was "we and not "i"
In the beginning it was difficult to get honest with myself and feel my feelings, something I could not do alone. I needed other alcoholics and meetings to share with.
I think SR is great Im delighted I found it...but on its own not enough for me. I need to get out of my chair and get to a meeting and meet people face to face...because this disease is very insidious and trys to tell me every chance it can ..I dont have it. This is my experience...It works for me
I was full of pride, ego, and had all sorts of notions but one day I messed up again and I was sick and tired of been sick and tired. I joined AA april 1998 and I wont say my life got better, I would rather say my life started!! I heard people actually sharing stuff that I had also done & I was able to identify with so many people.Everyone had there own story but we had or were all suffering the ravaging effects of alcoholism. There were people there like me new, shaky and full of fear & then there was people there a while & they were laughing & having fun( something I had not done sober for a long time)They seemed to be free & confident & I was attracted to that... I wanted what they had...they were happy without drink!!!! I was glad it was "we and not "i"
In the beginning it was difficult to get honest with myself and feel my feelings, something I could not do alone. I needed other alcoholics and meetings to share with.
I think SR is great Im delighted I found it...but on its own not enough for me. I need to get out of my chair and get to a meeting and meet people face to face...because this disease is very insidious and trys to tell me every chance it can ..I dont have it. This is my experience...It works for me
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 700
Warning.. Going to do a small bit of horn tooting .. Just had my 23rd B-day on Wednesday the 4th. Didn't do treatment, Never been to Detox. I was taken to an AA meeting, Have a great sponsor that took me to my first meeting and has been there ever since. I have a great life with many many sober friends.
I owe it all to the AA program and the Fellowship.
I owe it all to the AA program and the Fellowship.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: WA, USA
Posts: 2,591
Im still having trouble making myself meet people at meetings, I just cant meet anyone's eyes and I am always the first one out the door. It is hard enough to sit in a room facing a bunch of people, let alone talk to them. I need to find a sponsor but Ive been putting it off, I dont want the attention. It will have to be done though, I will try to make an announcement at the next newcomers meeting that I need a sponsor.
Member
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 1,861
I go to AA. It saved my life and gave me a life worth living. I couldn't read when I came to AA. Today I am half way through my Masters Program. I was unemployable when I got here. Today I have had the same job for 14 years ( been sober 19). I have lived all over, I have two wonderful children who never saw me drink. I have a foster child who is coming to terms with alot of abuse in his life. We provide him with the first stable environment he has ever known. He is a part of our family. AA taught me that life was about being of service to others. I don't need meetings, I need to be of maximum service to others.
Thanks
Thanks
Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Baton Rouge, La.
Posts: 15,236
The promises DO come true. You'll see.
Some recieved quickly. Some slowly.
So many awesome gifts recieved thru
out the yrs.
Thanks AA
It depends on my mood...i can walk
in a meeting and greet many.....or ill
slip in and sit quietly away from folks.
I dont linger around long after just
cause i dont like getting to close to
them. Im not much of a people person....
in a way of buddy buddy up with them.
I am one to be seen and not necessrily
heard.....but there r times u'll hear me...lol
Some recieved quickly. Some slowly.
So many awesome gifts recieved thru
out the yrs.
Thanks AA
It depends on my mood...i can walk
in a meeting and greet many.....or ill
slip in and sit quietly away from folks.
I dont linger around long after just
cause i dont like getting to close to
them. Im not much of a people person....
in a way of buddy buddy up with them.
I am one to be seen and not necessrily
heard.....but there r times u'll hear me...lol
Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Pugetopolis
Posts: 2,384
I am a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and have been, by the grace of God, continuously sober since the middle of January 1991.
I came to AA because there was no where else left to go and nothing else left to try. I had run out of money, booze, people, and time. At an AA meeting I met some men who told me that they could show me precisely how they had recovered from alcoholism. They said that I would never have to drink alcohol ever again for the rest of my life. Period. Above and beyond that they said that could show me a way of living that would make sense to me. To this point, they haven't lied to me.
Jim
I came to AA because there was no where else left to go and nothing else left to try. I had run out of money, booze, people, and time. At an AA meeting I met some men who told me that they could show me precisely how they had recovered from alcoholism. They said that I would never have to drink alcohol ever again for the rest of my life. Period. Above and beyond that they said that could show me a way of living that would make sense to me. To this point, they haven't lied to me.
Jim
Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Kingston PA
Posts: 49
I also am a Grateful recovered member of Alcoholics Anonymous. I tried for years to try and stay sober other ways and could not do it. Like Rob I walked in a broken Man. When I got there I was Beaten by Alcohol and Drugs so badly that I was willing to do anything that was suggested of me to be happy like those that I had met in the rooms. By following their suggestions and working the Steps with a sponsor I have found a genuine happiness in my life regardless of what the outside circumstances are. I used to be the type to string a couple months together so long as things were good, but once they got bad, or too good, i was well on my way. You ask if AA yields positive results? Only to those who are willing to do the work.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern CA
Posts: 49
WOW – this thread could not have come at a better time. I’m sitting here tonight working up the courage to go to my first meeting tomorrow morning. I’ve been contemplating for along time now. and I finally feel I'm ready. So many positive posts here– very encouraging. Thanks – this is exactly what I need to here right now.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Colorado Prairie
Posts: 1,417
I quit drinking a few months before I went to AA. Life without alcohol was life without alcohol. Nothing more. My life wasn't getting better in any way and a lot of times I wondered if it was all worth it. I was happier when I was drinking. My family said they liked me better when I was drinking. This is a far cry from what I was lead to believe. I had visions of things getting better as soon as I put the bottle down.
Turns out that Alcohol wasn't the problem. I was the problem! Alcohol didn't make me the miserable wretch that I was. Alcohol was just a way of hiding from a life that I had hated. I had become so dependant on alcohol that I had no idea how to live a happy life without it.
Every aspect of life was a drinking event. Sitting down and paying the bills required a drink. I couldn't pay the bills without it. I couldn't mow the lawn without it. I couldn't work on my car without it. I couldn't live without alcohol. Without alcohol, the answer was simple. Quit paying the bills, quit mowing the yard, quit working on my car. Quit living. I was consigned to sit and rot.
I had tried AA. I didn't really try it, I went and sat in a couple of meetings and nothing happened. I went to meetings for about a year and still nothing happened. I live here in a small town with one meeting. It wasn't a good meeting but that's all I knew at the time. We didn't talk steps, we didn,t talk God and we didn't talk recovery. We sure as hell didn't talk "Sponsorship"
One day out of the blue a man walked in. He had his book with him and it looked like it had been through the Korean War. He had a lot to say about God Recovery The Steps and Sponsorship. Since then I've come to believe that you can tell a lot about someones recovery by the condition of their book. I still believe that to this day.
He sat down with me and explained AA, Alcoholism and recovery to me. We took the steps together and he had a way of making me actually want to take the steps.
They did make all the difference between the person I was and the person that I am today.
I believe AA saved me from a miserable life. Today I am happy and thankful.
I do not owe my quitting drinking to AA I owe the fact that I do not start drinking again to AA
Turns out that Alcohol wasn't the problem. I was the problem! Alcohol didn't make me the miserable wretch that I was. Alcohol was just a way of hiding from a life that I had hated. I had become so dependant on alcohol that I had no idea how to live a happy life without it.
Every aspect of life was a drinking event. Sitting down and paying the bills required a drink. I couldn't pay the bills without it. I couldn't mow the lawn without it. I couldn't work on my car without it. I couldn't live without alcohol. Without alcohol, the answer was simple. Quit paying the bills, quit mowing the yard, quit working on my car. Quit living. I was consigned to sit and rot.
I had tried AA. I didn't really try it, I went and sat in a couple of meetings and nothing happened. I went to meetings for about a year and still nothing happened. I live here in a small town with one meeting. It wasn't a good meeting but that's all I knew at the time. We didn't talk steps, we didn,t talk God and we didn't talk recovery. We sure as hell didn't talk "Sponsorship"
One day out of the blue a man walked in. He had his book with him and it looked like it had been through the Korean War. He had a lot to say about God Recovery The Steps and Sponsorship. Since then I've come to believe that you can tell a lot about someones recovery by the condition of their book. I still believe that to this day.
He sat down with me and explained AA, Alcoholism and recovery to me. We took the steps together and he had a way of making me actually want to take the steps.
They did make all the difference between the person I was and the person that I am today.
I believe AA saved me from a miserable life. Today I am happy and thankful.
I do not owe my quitting drinking to AA I owe the fact that I do not start drinking again to AA
Psalm 118:24
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: ILLINOIS
Posts: 15,203
hm
I'm on vacation peeking in dove 8 hours to hook up with a friend in AA
Then went down to Fla.
One big black out after another at the last for me.
Woke up in a drunk tank in a county jail and I couldn't get anyone to come bail me out.
Something about being in an orange jump suit standing in front of a judge with a court room of people with cuffs on made me hit a bottom.
I didn't want to end up a bum on skid row.
I finally, admitted, I was an alcoholic.
Shortly there after, I found my first AA meeting.
I've been in AA for 9 an a half years now. I've got more to lose now then, I had before.
Namely. spirituality, serenity and sobriety.
I've also got a second chance with my grand kids. I get a chance to watch them grow. They've never seen me drink. With God's help and the fellowship of AA, they never will either
LOL back to my vacation
talk to every one in few days
BTW
AA people are great people no matter what city, state or country.
I'm on vacation peeking in dove 8 hours to hook up with a friend in AA
Then went down to Fla.
One big black out after another at the last for me.
Woke up in a drunk tank in a county jail and I couldn't get anyone to come bail me out.
Something about being in an orange jump suit standing in front of a judge with a court room of people with cuffs on made me hit a bottom.
I didn't want to end up a bum on skid row.
I finally, admitted, I was an alcoholic.
Shortly there after, I found my first AA meeting.
I've been in AA for 9 an a half years now. I've got more to lose now then, I had before.
Namely. spirituality, serenity and sobriety.
I've also got a second chance with my grand kids. I get a chance to watch them grow. They've never seen me drink. With God's help and the fellowship of AA, they never will either
LOL back to my vacation
talk to every one in few days
BTW
AA people are great people no matter what city, state or country.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Colorado Prairie
Posts: 1,417
While we're on the subject. My first sober Christmas was spent alone. I had run my family out of the house that day. I was 4 months sober at the time. At least if I was a wet dunk I would have had an excuse, but I didn't.
That's the person I put away through the Fellowship of AA
Last Summer I took the Family on a vacation. 2500 miles with them in the car and I didn't ruin it for any of them. AA is good for everyone who's life is touched by an Alcoholic.
That's the person I put away through the Fellowship of AA
Last Summer I took the Family on a vacation. 2500 miles with them in the car and I didn't ruin it for any of them. AA is good for everyone who's life is touched by an Alcoholic.
where the light is
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,763
I went to my first AA meeting almost 14 months ago and I have been sober since. I had reached a point where I just knew in my heart that I am an alcoholic and I needed help. Horrific benders, swearing I would never drink again, end up on another bender. Over & over.
I really had to swallow my pride when I called the AA hotline & went to my first meeting. But you know, I was at a crossroads - lose everything good in my life or get help. No grey areas - black and white.
One of the best things I did was to get a sponsor and commit (to myself) to work through the steps to the best of my ability - no matter what. After about 3 months, I really felt at home in meetings. After my 6th step, I started to feel this incredible peace. No obsession to drink, no fear, no guilt. Unbelievable! And it keeps getting better!
I have had some down periods in my sobriety and I don't think AA as a whole is perfect but I do believe that if you want to stay sober and live a good life, AA can give you this. But it does take time, commitment, and effort. It is so worth it.
I only have one life to live. AA has given me the opportunity to live it to the fullest.
I really had to swallow my pride when I called the AA hotline & went to my first meeting. But you know, I was at a crossroads - lose everything good in my life or get help. No grey areas - black and white.
One of the best things I did was to get a sponsor and commit (to myself) to work through the steps to the best of my ability - no matter what. After about 3 months, I really felt at home in meetings. After my 6th step, I started to feel this incredible peace. No obsession to drink, no fear, no guilt. Unbelievable! And it keeps getting better!
I have had some down periods in my sobriety and I don't think AA as a whole is perfect but I do believe that if you want to stay sober and live a good life, AA can give you this. But it does take time, commitment, and effort. It is so worth it.
I only have one life to live. AA has given me the opportunity to live it to the fullest.
Guest
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 4,151
For me, I could not stop drinking on my own, nor stay stopped. AA has given me F2F support and a program for Living. I accept and know that AA is not for everyone and when I first went to AA there wasn't the online support via forums and recovery sites that there is Today.
However for me, AA hasn't just enabled me to stop drinking. AA offers me everything that my alcoholism did not; friendship and support, people who accept me for what I am, laughter and a sense of purpose. Through working the steps, I have been able to take to take a long hard look at myself, the so called good and the so called bad. I can help others freely without expecting anything in return. I go to bed sober, knowing that on most days I have done my best and that it is progress we seek not perfection.
If anyone is dubious or unsure about AA, my advice is to try a meeting or two. What have you got to lose?
However for me, AA hasn't just enabled me to stop drinking. AA offers me everything that my alcoholism did not; friendship and support, people who accept me for what I am, laughter and a sense of purpose. Through working the steps, I have been able to take to take a long hard look at myself, the so called good and the so called bad. I can help others freely without expecting anything in return. I go to bed sober, knowing that on most days I have done my best and that it is progress we seek not perfection.
If anyone is dubious or unsure about AA, my advice is to try a meeting or two. What have you got to lose?
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