never been to aa
 

Just wondering how to expect my first time at aa, im very shy walking into a room full of strangers, would i have to stand up and tell my story on the first nite?

If your meeting is like most of mine, they will start off with the AA preamble, then ask if there is anyone atending their first AA meeting,"this is not to embarass you, but so we can get to know you". You just say "Hi, my name is ______" and you can add "and I'm an alcoholic" but you don't have to. You can sit in silence even. There are few rules in meetings, and none are garnered towards making newcomers feel uneasy or unwelcome. We are hear to help alcoholics, that's it. The pace of said help is up to you entirely. Granted, I'm in California, don't know if it's the same in my family's motherland. Good luck, and welcome to SR.


camedown :headbang:

thanks camedown, what happens then in the next meetings?:tyou

You don't need to sat anything and you certainly don't need to tell "your story."

If you want, you can introduce yourself and say something, like "Hi, I'm Bob and this is my first meeting, so I'm just going to watch." Afterwards a few people will come up to you and talk, you can be as talkative as you want to be.

The main thing is to keep going to meetings. I am approaching six months, and have a semi regular schedule of 4 to 5 meetings a week. The people of AA will be more than gracious, and will be very approachable. Just sit and listen. After the meetings, talk to people who's sharing piqued your interest. Get a feel of the program and it's core, the steps. Buy a Big Book and read it, especially the first 164 pages, it describes the program in it's entirety. Eventually, the sooner the better, find a meeting you really like and commit to it weekly, this will be your homegroup. When someone really clicks with you, ask them to sponsor you. He/she will be Yoda to your Luke Skywalker, Annie Sullivan to your Helen Keller, God to your Moses. Then you start stepwork with your sponsor. Like I said though, just keep going, even guys with 20 years sobriety state that regular attendance is the key to their sobriety.


camedown :headbang:

If it is a discussion meeting, let's say you are seated around a table, and it is your turn to speak on the subject of discussion, you can just say, "I'm just here to listen today". People will not question this and will be welcoming in general. Otherwise, you could also attend a Speaker Meeting.

I found the following site very helpful for my first meeting:

Your First AA Meeting<

It may be intimidating at first, but once you get there I think you'll find there's nothing to be afraid of. :) Good luck!

welcome to SR Brian :)

D

I agree with others who posted: you dont have to say anything if you dont want to.

some meetings are spent taking turns reading out of the big book. i found this a good way to get more comfortable with speaking since i was only reading out of the book and didnt have to think of what to say.

some other meetings you will find that a few people take turns reading literature and then everyone takes turns talking about their interpretations of what was read and/or how it relates to them. but then again, you can politiely excuse yourself from speaking when it comes your turn :)

Oh, in my haste to help I forget to say welcome! :)

:welcome