trytobesober

Hey i just wanted to ask how do i admit that i have a problem and make it public.
I know that i have been going to AA but i dont know whatelse to do it feels really strange to go there because they just seem sorta stuck up.
I just dont know what i can do to get past my pride to go back and say i fell off the wagon.

sailorjohn

You sound a little confused.

Unless I'm assuming something, didn't you go to AA and say, Hey, I'm so and so, and I'm an alcoholic?

So, if you go back to the meeting and tell them you've been drinking, they probably won't act surprised. It isn't like you'd be the first.

They'll probably say 'welcome back'.

Boleo

If it's anything like the meetings I go to, you will not even be one the first 1000
LOL!

Dee74

Don't let your pride get in the way of getting better tryto...

I guarantee the other folks there at AA know exactly how you feel coming back after a 'fall'...most of us have been there

D

least

AA doesn't shoot its wounded. They'll welcome you back, from my experience. Concentrate on your recovery, not what people will think or say.

Toronto68

When you say "make it public," do you mean the courage it takes to say out loud that you are an alcoholic in front of the people at the AA meeting?

If you think you are having a problem with pride and having to face anything about your drinking, that's not going to be anything new to the people who go there. I'm sure you realize that already.

Otherwise, not sure what you mean.

SoberinHburg

Wow! I remember my first time through AA. I felt the same thing. "They think they have all the answers. They're stuck up. Don't they know that I graduated summa *** laud with a degree in biology? Who are they to provide any wisdom to me?" I didn't like their language either.

I showed them. I went back out.

In reality, I was the one who was stuck up, and that created resentment in me. I didn't make my way back to the rooms for nearly a year. I'm sober for 15 months now, but the price for going back out, the price for my resentment, is the horrible anxiety, fear, and depression of PAWS. I'm blessed that I'm still alive, but swallowing my own pride would have been a whole lot easier and more comfortable. I'm learning that sobriety is an incredibly wonderful gift. I didn't appreciate it the first time through.

When I came back into the rooms this time, it was as though I never left. People slip. Most of them have slipped. There is always a genuine "group thankfulness" when someone "comes back in." Most of the ones who have been around for some time understand that this is literally a life or death proposition. I didn't see it that way the first time. I'm just glad they are still there for me.

Stevie1

Hey trytobe, what everyone else said...I am very new to AA but in almost every meeting someone has alluded to slipping and having a hard time at first...it's common. Common enough for people to joke about, even.

Also I haven't encountered anyone stuck up or arrogant, for the most part the meetings I've been to have had a very good vibe...but different meetings have a different vibe, I'm already figuring that out.

Reset

The first thing that comes to my mind is, other than in AA or with your doctor, why do you need to make it public?

trytobesober

Im sorry i ment in AA that i fell off the wagon i dident mean make it PUBLIC as in facebook or anything sorry for the confuseing lingo.

Toronto68

Oh, OK, well, there are people who have done the same thing - went back to drinking even though they started to change. I can't make you not feel proud or afraid to state that. All I can do is say I understand and wish that you stick with your changes and not go back. I don't know whether you have started doing Steps or not, but I imagine that will help you to get away from things that hold you back and get you off track, including Pride.

CarolD

I did return to AA after I drank again...and everyone was
welcomeing and willing to help me get back on track..

I suggest you go sit next to an older woman...and tell her of
your situation Ask her about getting a sponsor.

. I absolutely know you won't shock a person there.

Missybuns

There is no shame in doing the next right thing to help yourself. It takes courage to step up to the plate again. The shame would be if you didn't....not if you did.

Just do it.

Peace,
Missy

FrothyJay

Alcoholics are supposed to drink. It's our factory setting.

That's not an excuse to drink, it's merely recognizing the reality we deal with.

Unfortunately, though, our factory settings create misery, violence, and disappointment not just for ourselves but those around us.

If you're in a group where there's the slightest bit of disdain or judgment for your slip, you're in a group that really doesn't understand the disease. And what's required to recover from it.