Chaired my first AA meeting tonight
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Crestview, Fl
Posts: 102
Chaired my first AA meeting tonight
I chaired my first AA meeting tonight with 4 months of sobriety. I am proud that I did a good job but I don't feel like I got as much out of it as I do when I am just attending a meeting. Anyone else have an experience like this?
Sober Alcoholic
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,539
The greatest benefit of the AA program is best summed up by the phrase "freedom from the boundaries of self". It's something that is a little difficult to appreciate in early sobriety, but if you're anything like me, in a few years you'll live for it.
The honor is to serve.
The honor is to serve.
Guest
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 1,476
I try these days to see what I can contribute rather than what I get out of.
Then it's not all about me (getting away from selfish motives)
But yeah, I have had the experience of not enjoying chairing.
Then it's not all about me (getting away from selfish motives)
But yeah, I have had the experience of not enjoying chairing.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: northern michigan. not the U.P.
Posts: 15,281
Good on ya!
There were times even just attending meetings I didn't get anything from the meetings. Then as I worked the steps and had a spiritual awakening my focused turned to carrying the message and not what I got out of them.
Some of the promises being fulfilled.
There were times even just attending meetings I didn't get anything from the meetings. Then as I worked the steps and had a spiritual awakening my focused turned to carrying the message and not what I got out of them.
Some of the promises being fulfilled.
12 Step Recovered Alcoholic
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 6,613
Congrats on chairing your first meeting. It is a big responsibility and quite a compliment to be given the opportunity. I have found, and others have pointed out, that when AA really "clicks" we find that the real benefits come from giving, not getting.
Service is its own reward it is sometimes said. Or as another put it, if you come to AA hoping to get something for nothing, you are going to be disappointed. All AA really has to offer is opportunities to be of service. And that is where the true rewards are to be found.
Service is its own reward it is sometimes said. Or as another put it, if you come to AA hoping to get something for nothing, you are going to be disappointed. All AA really has to offer is opportunities to be of service. And that is where the true rewards are to be found.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Ohio
Posts: 3,785
I think my first two or three felt that way but that is because I was stressed and anxious. I wanted to do it right, not mess up or make some boneheaded comment.
I found as time went on I realized that all I had to do was chair the meeting. I didn't have to have some great insight, come up with any witty banter or whirl about what I had to say or do. I just followed what it said to read on the paper and I started to relax.
After a couple you won't feel so exposed. You can relax and you will get more out of the meeting.
"Everything I give to others is a gift to myself. As I give I receive."
I didn't understand all that at first, I was to busy being stressed. You will relax. Take it easy and take it one day (chair) at a time.
Congrats on 4 months sober! Keep on, Keepin' on!
I found as time went on I realized that all I had to do was chair the meeting. I didn't have to have some great insight, come up with any witty banter or whirl about what I had to say or do. I just followed what it said to read on the paper and I started to relax.
After a couple you won't feel so exposed. You can relax and you will get more out of the meeting.
"Everything I give to others is a gift to myself. As I give I receive."
I didn't understand all that at first, I was to busy being stressed. You will relax. Take it easy and take it one day (chair) at a time.
Congrats on 4 months sober! Keep on, Keepin' on!
Grateful
Join Date: May 2013
Location: NC
Posts: 1,763
I can relate, as the first couple of times I chaired a meeting I was so focused on not screwing up that I had trouble focusing on what others were saying during the meeting. Once I got past that initial phase of worrying about how chairing the meeting would make me look and started enjoying the service I was providing for the group I got a lot out of it.
A Day at a Time
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Grand Rapids MI
Posts: 6,435
The more times you chair the less of a labor it becomes. Besides this is service work and you are doing it for others not your self.
The 3rd Step Prayer
God, I offer myself to Thee-
To build with me
and to do with me as Thou wilt.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do Thy will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them may bear witness
to those I would help of Thy Power,
Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
May I do Thy will always!
The 3rd Step Prayer
God, I offer myself to Thee-
To build with me
and to do with me as Thou wilt.
Relieve me of the bondage of self,
that I may better do Thy will.
Take away my difficulties,
that victory over them may bear witness
to those I would help of Thy Power,
Thy Love, and Thy Way of life.
May I do Thy will always!
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: C.C. Ma.
Posts: 3,697
Congratulations!
After having a blackout caused by my self centered fear the third chairing and speaking at open meetings subsided.
In my area there are mostly discussion meetings and the chair speaks for 10-15 minutes about their experience and opens the meeting to a discussion with a topic that’s usually not followed.
In the years I’ve chaired/spoken at rehabs, jails and regular meetings it’s always a lift when someone comes up to me, Male/Female, and says thank you, you said what I needed to hear. Not one has ever said what it was!
BE WELL
After having a blackout caused by my self centered fear the third chairing and speaking at open meetings subsided.
In my area there are mostly discussion meetings and the chair speaks for 10-15 minutes about their experience and opens the meeting to a discussion with a topic that’s usually not followed.
In the years I’ve chaired/spoken at rehabs, jails and regular meetings it’s always a lift when someone comes up to me, Male/Female, and says thank you, you said what I needed to hear. Not one has ever said what it was!
BE WELL
Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 418
Good on you retiredusaf!
Public speaking is feared more than death.
I chaired a meeting once at a train station. I got up on a metal chair and gave a sermon on god knows what to the people in attendance. Then I fell and hit my head and woke up in hospital. Oh.. not an AA meeting.
COngrats on public sober speaking
Public speaking is feared more than death.
I chaired a meeting once at a train station. I got up on a metal chair and gave a sermon on god knows what to the people in attendance. Then I fell and hit my head and woke up in hospital. Oh.. not an AA meeting.
COngrats on public sober speaking
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Crestview, Fl
Posts: 102
I figured out why I didn't get anything out of it. Someone mentioned that I needed my sponsor at the meeting and I told them that I was told differently. I held a resentment for that person through the meeting. I spoke to someone tonight about it and they set me straight.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
