Mcribb

When I went in I had the attitude. Ok I am going to give the program an hour and it better solve my money, sex, everything! Terrible, spend a couple hours there and it will first and foremost keep you sober. Anything else is just a bonus.

Kjell

This has been my experience also. Normally, BB, step meetings, or speaker meetings carry a stronger recovery message.

Ananda

when i go to a meeting and everyone is sharing how la de da wonderful sobriety is...well it's great if thats how it is for me that day...

but if no one ever shares that sometimes things are hard..sometimes we can't see the good...

I go to some meetings like that, I listen, I go home...I sorta wonder if they are really people or some sort of cardboard cut out alien invasion team LOL

I need a mix. If you don't have negativity in your life, then frankly I question your honesty with yourself... and i certainly can't relate.

Yes I need a message of hope in meetings to help me see the possibility of change and to focus me

but i need the negativity cause if you don't ever feel the desperation of what I feel at times...then how can you help me? You then don't have the expereince of a solution.

I just want honest sharing...There should be enough people in the room expereincing the answer to share, i need their to be people sharing that that day they were stuck in the problem..so that i know that having a hard time at the moment doesn't mean I'm doomed...

don't know it that makes sense..just been a bit tired of listening to people who glitter and glow and no longer seem to actualy expereince the pain of life that comes with truley living it.

shaun00

i get you ananda.

lots of things that suck still happen.......its not the events that change for me.
its the perception of it.

what would have had my world crashing down........now becomes something i do my best with and pass the rest over to someone that truly has the reins.
the steps dont change my world...........they change my perception of it.

Mcribb

the bottom line, unless your dead, you can always switch anything into a positive, because everyday above ground...you can serve.

Ananda

mcrib..not to be contrary..well ok i am...

anything CAN be turned into a postive...and i'm not saying we shouldn't look for a way to make the best of things...but...

sobriety is about learning to live with "it is what it is" no need to sugar coat it...lives sometimes suck...people die, get sick...sure...we can look on the bright side...

for me i find it more honest for myself (not others) to admit that something really does suck...and over time remember that what ever it is that hurts has some good stuff that lead to the pain.

Sorry..but i'm really struggling with a lot of things in sobriety right now...and part of my truth is ... painful and bad things happen. Fault doesn't matter...it is what it is...would i give up the good that lead to the horrible feeling of the moment.

Anytime i am hurt or feel pain..i have lost something that matters deeply to me. I have a choice..to stop putting myself in that position by not allowing myself to fully engage in life...or to fully engage and accept the negative feelings and results as part of life.

To stay in a "centered" place where we are not effected..means to give up the very joy we seek...embrace life as it is...

for me to say well..it really is a positive cause... is just self deception...

I don't know .. we are probably on the same page just expressing it differently which is good cause what one person can hear from you another person may hear from me...good thing there are so many voices in the owrld for us to relate to

BadCompany

Yes. For us older folks listening to you and going back over "romper room AA" lets us go over our own program foundations and for the newcomer you are going to speak in terms much more familiar to them and are going to be a lot less scary than a bombastic pontificator like me.

Harry01854

Exactly what my sponsor asked me. A meeting I disliked and refused to go to. So when my sponsor asked me that, and I knew I didn't do anything to make it a better meeting, I took on a commitment to go to that meeting everyday, it was at noon every weekday and was an Open Discussion Meeting. As much as I disliked being there, I started sharing what I was familiar with. The Big Book and the 12 Steps. I didn't share everyday or take up a lot of time because I wanted to listen to what others had to share also. All I can say, I got to know a lot of the people that were at that meeting everyday. I got to share with them one on one more and more and was also questioned a lot about the 12 Steps. I grew to like that meeting a lot, because now there were more and more people who were sharing about making changes in themselves and their lives.

I stopped going to that meeting about 2 years ago and meet people, who still go to that meeting, and thank me for sharing and for being there for them when all they knew was to just don't drink.

So it isn't always about what I can get out of any meeting, but what do I have to bring to the table. How can I help?

Harry

CarolD

Just like bars....each group has it's own ambience
often depends on who is there....
and on ones own attitude.

Many AA members prefer Closed Meetings as they are
usually more program centered.

stugotz

I dont know anyone whose life was so great they decided to AA. Most of us our pretty well beat up and angry when we first show up.