Panicked tonight before first meeting
Member
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: PA
Posts: 12,000
Hi John and welcome.
A few things...
Why did you want to go to an aa meeting? After you read about it you were excited. What excited you about aa? Was it a chance to get some things off your chest or feeling free to finally talk to someone about your drinking? What emotions were you experiencing as you contemplated going into a meeting from a block away? Was it that you were afraid of the possibility that you actually qualified to attend a meeting? The finality of the situation? Were you worried about revealing yourself to others?
You didn't really reveal much about yourself other than you were excited to go to an aa meeting yet chickened out.
A few things...
Why did you want to go to an aa meeting? After you read about it you were excited. What excited you about aa? Was it a chance to get some things off your chest or feeling free to finally talk to someone about your drinking? What emotions were you experiencing as you contemplated going into a meeting from a block away? Was it that you were afraid of the possibility that you actually qualified to attend a meeting? The finality of the situation? Were you worried about revealing yourself to others?
You didn't really reveal much about yourself other than you were excited to go to an aa meeting yet chickened out.
Trudgin
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,348
Welcome, glad you're here!!
I know I had several meetings with myself in parking lots before walking in
Not unusual - try again! Most find an instant sense of relief in discovering there are many others like themselves.
My first meeting I thought I was in the wrong place.....All I heard from the room was people laughing and talking before the meeting. This CAN'T be an AA meeting?!?
It was indeed......
Keep coming back!
I know I had several meetings with myself in parking lots before walking in
Not unusual - try again! Most find an instant sense of relief in discovering there are many others like themselves.
My first meeting I thought I was in the wrong place.....All I heard from the room was people laughing and talking before the meeting. This CAN'T be an AA meeting?!?
It was indeed......
Keep coming back!
Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 14,921
Keep trying, it will get better.
Once you start going to AA, you will find a lot of acceptance. After my first couple of AA meetings I felt great relief. I found that I wasn't alone and I could learn a lot from others who have gone before me in the struggle with alcohol.
After 6 months of going to AA you might surprise yourself by volunteering to chair a meeting or two! Hard to imagine, huh?
Give AA a chance and you might find yourself growing in ways you can't even imagine today. And it sure beats sitting at home alone and drinking like a fish.
Once you start going to AA, you will find a lot of acceptance. After my first couple of AA meetings I felt great relief. I found that I wasn't alone and I could learn a lot from others who have gone before me in the struggle with alcohol.
After 6 months of going to AA you might surprise yourself by volunteering to chair a meeting or two! Hard to imagine, huh?
Give AA a chance and you might find yourself growing in ways you can't even imagine today. And it sure beats sitting at home alone and drinking like a fish.
Live easy but think first
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Sonoran Desert
Posts: 480
Originally Posted by fromadistance 
Immediately prior to my planned talk with my wife about my effort to become sober,I became agitated and uncomfortable. I think that my pending conversation with her represented a turning point. I drank in isolation and secret for the most part and was about to shine a light into a dark corner of my life. It made me feel like a deer in headlights. In some way your emotions may have come from a similar place. Not so much the basic components of the meeting, but the enormity of what your endeavoring to do. Sounds like you're being proactive about this, that's great! I wish you the best.
1.) it went a long way to overcoming self denial that I had a problem. Why would I feel that way if it was an innocuous thing. This was important stuff.
2.) this stuff, recovery, really mattered. The importance of it was what made it weighty.
3.) man alive, it felt great to overcome that initial fear and trepidation.
The breathing exercises are awesome. I believe in you!
Dax
Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: US
Posts: 556
I was practically an AA stalker by the time I finally went to a meeting. I must have cased the meeting four or five times before I got the guts to actually walk in! It's pretty typical.
I'm so glad I did though - I'm coming up on a year of sobriety which I couldn't have conceived of when I walked into the first meeting (or drove by it, as the case may be). Try again.
I'm so glad I did though - I'm coming up on a year of sobriety which I couldn't have conceived of when I walked into the first meeting (or drove by it, as the case may be
). Try again.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3,785
Sounds like fear, I have been there!
If you don't think you can go alone then you can contact your local AA intergroup or call the hotline if you don't have one in your area. They can send someone to pick you up or meet you at the meeting or a mutual spot before hand. Then you can go to the meeting together.
I did this my first meeting. Besides being drunk I was scared to death and I had been to AA in the past.
Leaving our comfort zone is hard but I have never found doing it to be negative. There has always been some sort of positive result for doing so. Take a deep breath and call AA.
If you don't think you can go alone then you can contact your local AA intergroup or call the hotline if you don't have one in your area. They can send someone to pick you up or meet you at the meeting or a mutual spot before hand. Then you can go to the meeting together.
I did this my first meeting. Besides being drunk I was scared to death and I had been to AA in the past.
Leaving our comfort zone is hard but I have never found doing it to be negative. There has always been some sort of positive result for doing so. Take a deep breath and call AA.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Location: liverpool, england
Posts: 1,708
take the body and the mind will follow is what i was told to do over many many situations in life that i would be scared about doing
my head has a bad habbit of blowing things up out of all proportion, i have to face fear head on in this world today as i would always run away or find some way to get out of doing something that i would feel fearful about
my head has a bad habbit of blowing things up out of all proportion, i have to face fear head on in this world today as i would always run away or find some way to get out of doing something that i would feel fearful about
Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: U.S.A.
Posts: 346
It's definitely tough the first few times. It's taking another step away from alcohol. My first meeting i arrived at the location early but couldn't go in. I walked around the block a few times until the meeting had started. I tried googling how showing up to AA was looked down upon. Everything I found says you just have to get into the room. I am so happy I made it in.
It feels awkward but it is worth it.
It feels awkward but it is worth it.
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