Seriously considering AA
Meraviglioso,
A friend of mine from my AA homegroup has talked about his thinking prior to joining AA this way: "I had no problem being seen in public so drunk that I puked on my shoes, but would never been seen walking into a church basement to go to an AA meeting - that would be scandalous!"
If you are ready to go to any length, you are ready to start your new life. Good luck, Mera!
A friend of mine from my AA homegroup has talked about his thinking prior to joining AA this way: "I had no problem being seen in public so drunk that I puked on my shoes, but would never been seen walking into a church basement to go to an AA meeting - that would be scandalous!"
If you are ready to go to any length, you are ready to start your new life. Good luck, Mera!
Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 301
I was just poking around an app that shows local AA meetings. I've never been to one as I don't think they're for me(I identify with agnostic), BUT I feel so isolated and lonely this holiday weekend. My kids aren't home and my go to activity would be hanging out with bar friends. I've had thoughts of maybe going by... Perhaps it's time I check out a meeting, just to possibly make some acquaintances with the same goal. My question to those who attend, what is a closed meeting? Can I attend one? I noticed different titles, is there any particular order to attend these in? Is it okay to just slip in quietly and just take it in without contributing? I'm quite nervous to go, if I even ever do. Thanks for any input, thoughts any might contribute.
I say ask your friend to go with you. If she has been sober eight years and with the help of AA I can't see that she would be bored or anything other than supportive. One of the premises of AA is to pass it on to keep sober. Helping newcomers to sobriety.
As for your friends discouraging you from attending. I read your earlier posts about this topic and I may be missing something but are they trying to tell you that the meetings won't help you? Or that attending won't help your image or reputation? It simply cannot be true that there are no other alcoholics in Italy. If that were true then there would be no AA meetings. I think what may be true is that alcoholics don't talk about it because their friends get on their case and dissuade them from seeking help.
It they are saying that they are bad and won't help you, well, have they attended? Do they have drinking problems? If the answer is no to either of those questions then they don't know what they are talking about because how could they? They've never been to a meeting.
I think it's great that your friend and her fiancé are visiting next week. And I bet that she is willing to go with you. When I started going to AA I had a lot of worries too but it's been a better place to land. Maybe try an online meeting here?
As for your friends discouraging you from attending. I read your earlier posts about this topic and I may be missing something but are they trying to tell you that the meetings won't help you? Or that attending won't help your image or reputation? It simply cannot be true that there are no other alcoholics in Italy. If that were true then there would be no AA meetings. I think what may be true is that alcoholics don't talk about it because their friends get on their case and dissuade them from seeking help.
It they are saying that they are bad and won't help you, well, have they attended? Do they have drinking problems? If the answer is no to either of those questions then they don't know what they are talking about because how could they? They've never been to a meeting.
I think it's great that your friend and her fiancé are visiting next week. And I bet that she is willing to go with you. When I started going to AA I had a lot of worries too but it's been a better place to land. Maybe try an online meeting here?
Member
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Scotland
Posts: 1,490
pumpkinny - please, please go. It does not matter if you are an agnostic or otherwise, if you have a desire to get and keep sober, then AA will help you. You don't need to contribute if you don't want to, but you will meet people who know what it is like to be an alcoholic. xx
Please go to the meeting. I understand that you have reservations but as you said yourself you cannot do it on your own. I know you are in Italy and I just wanted to say that I loved your part of the world when I visited in 2008. I also heard the saying that you don't often see a "drunk Italian" because even though alcohol is a big part of the culture they tend to pace themselves and "graze" during the hotter part of the day without actually getting falling down drunk. I was at the start of my alcoholism when I visited and I remember how the glass of "rossi" was seen as a normal order even in the morning. I wish you all the very best, Judex
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