Thumpalumpacus

No doubt. That's exactly the point about getting out of it what you put into it.

I'm an atheist attending AA meetings. I don't give a about meeting God. I want to meet recovery. However I can do that, it's all good.

EndGameNYC

The times in my life when I thought I'd found God, He was always in the strangest places and never seemed to be lost.

Beyond that, we didn't seem to have much in common.

Thumpalumpacus

I found him at the bottom of a bottle or a bowl ... odd place for such a good guy.

EndGameNYC

Yes. There's that.

But back to the OP.

AA is no place for alcoholics.

Dee74

Yes, please

Dee
Moderator
SR

BarbieKen

I'm not a Christian or member of any organized religion. To be part if AA, All I needed was willingness to admit my life was unmanageable. Since being an active member in AA I struggled with all the God stuff too.
Continuing to go to meetings at AA & C.A. Has really helped me to reconnect with a power greater than myself. I personally feel my HP is the Universal Spirit. But, I get that others may call it God, or any number of names. That doesn't stop me from attending and getting something out of each meeting. Of course there are folks with just horror stories of them in their addiction. We alcoholics each have our own bottom, because mine wasn't like those old timers doesn't mean I'm less an alcoholic. That's your disease talking to you..OH, I'm not THAT bad, I only drink in the evenings, I only drink the finest wines & Spirits. I don't black out all the time like THOSE people!!
Your addiction wants you to believe this crap its feeding you.

You have the gift of choice, if you want to not go to AA ( one meeting?) because of this word , GOD, and the shares, please do as others suggested. Get it together with some plan. I'm writing this before I read the 2nd page.
AA has many slogans. Something to think about on thisituation might be ...to meditate on our our similarities rather than our differences.
Good Luck.
Bobbi

SoberLife90

H.O.W. Honesty, Openmindedness, and Willingness. Us AAers do the things we do because it works! Try to relate with people instead of thinking about what makes you different or why your not like them. That is where their drinking took them and if you continue you coud end up telling those same stories.

shortstop81

Disclosure - AA is not my main method of recovery, but I have drifted in & out of their rooms many times over the years.

I can attest to the fact that not every AAer was an 'acute' drunk, fighting their way back from the most dire situations. There were many like me, who were intermittent bingers or had other patterns of use.

I know that you're looking for others to relate to, but there's a fine line between that and playing the comparison-game, where you've decided that you're not 'like them' so why bother?

Like others have already said, I once thought that way walking into the church basements in my 20s. Now in my 30s, I realize that I was *always* just like them. I just stalled for time, and spent 10 more years hitting the bottle. Pure rationalization, my friend.

Either way, there are many other avenues to take on the road to recovery. Just as long as you're not dismissing AA for the wrong reasons.

LiveInPeace

You don't need to be. Everyone's story is different. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Some have lower bottoms then others but that does not matter. Everyone follows the same exact solution.

You only need to relate to the point that you want to stop and can't stop or can't stay stopped. That's it.

It doesn't matter what you drink, how often, how much, how many DUIs you have or don't have, how often you get drunk, etc.

It's your decision but it sounds to me like you have preconceived notions and misunderstandings about it.

I used to think this too. I left AA for 10 years, and relapsed worse than previously. I guess you have to want recovery bad enough.

I love going to meetings. Well, once I found the right one. The one that focuses on the solution. I enjoy reading out of our book. I get something new each time we read from it, because I am growing spiritually. I get something out of people's shares on the book, too.

Sounds like you've made up your mind already.

It's not religion. It's spirituality. And I was just like that 10 years ago.

It's a nice reminder that we're not alone in this. The program isn't religious. It's spiritual. The Lord's prayer is not a Christian prayer. It was a prayer that was adopted by Christianity, that's all. There is no religion included or not included in AA. Everyone there has different religions and it's not really discussed or an issue. Religion of the members is an outside issue.

Many AA members are not Christian. There are Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Hindus, etc. AA has nothing to do with religion but all to do with spirituality since addiction is a spiritual malady.

I wasn't raised Christian but I choose to say The Lord's Prayer because it is part of my spiritual program. But I can also choose to not say it and stay in the circle, or just sit out of the circle. No one really cares.

What we learned about religion and God in childhood does not have anything to do with AA or the program of AA.

Perhaps if you have specific questions about AA, we can answer them because there are a lot of misconceptions.

Blacky

I went to my first AA meeting about 33 years ago as an inpatient. It was mandatory and NA every day one or the other. I was 17 and was not to pleased at first. I also was not really in this program voluntarily, I think juvenile detention was the other option.

I found that meetings were all different and mostly positive, of course I was not all F'd up like some of those folks I thought. Even though I had thrown bricks thru store windows to get alcohol at 16. Heck I was actually worse than a lot of those old folks.

You can't force someone to stay sober and work on recovery, I did stay sober on my own a few years after that. I convinced myself at some point that I could drink again, and was a functioning alcoholic and did not get in any more legal trouble and went to work to pay for my alcohol with money instead of a brick.

Joined the Army at 19 and did well but drank almost every night with no trouble up until that dui coming in the gate at 4am a month before I was to get out after 3 years. Article 15 took a few ranks and money.

A progressive condition, yes. I returned to AA on my own the next time. All sorts of different meetings were out there in my area. It helped me get sober being around the fellowship of people whether or not I did everything they suggested.

Those early forced meetings kind of turned me off to AA, I am hard headed and became of the mind that I could do this on my own and did not want to hear others stories or be in that environment.

I will wind this up as I think my story of doing well and then screwing up and all the programs I have been through over the years could stretch into a book.

Now, today. There are so many options and support groups and help available that if you want to get and stay sober you can find something that works if you are willing.

I really like this site, I can come here any time and post or read. It helps me.

Thanks

RattleAndHum

Great thread. As someone within his first month of recovery, I, too, am struggling whether to go to meetings or to keep with what I'm doing now (therapy, reading literature, SR, support from wife, meditation, writing, etc.).

AA was helpful to me in the past when I first put together some time without alcohol. I won't rule it out despite my own agnosticism. It's there if you need it. A while back, one thing I was told during a meeting that stuck to me was to take what you can/what's helpful and leave the rest behind/at the door.

Thanks for the honest post. And if your username is indicative of why you are quitting, that's extremely honorable (speaking as a child of an alcoholic).

My best wishes on your journey, no matter what path you decide to take to sobriety.

jryan19982

Nobody starts at the drinking when they wake up, all day, hiding it, until black out drunk. It all starts out with a few here and there. Then it progresses to on a weekend waking up and spiking a drink and then drinking all day.

I started off slow, like real slow. One drink here and there. Maybe all of 4 drinks in a month. Then that lead to 4 drinks a week, to 4 a day, to 6 a day on weekdays and much more on weekends. That eventually lead to me drinking as soon as I woke up on a weekend, all day, until well... you get the point.

If you arent drinking all day yet, you might be very soon. Best to kick it now, while you are an evening drinker and that doesnt progress.

IMO I am not as bad as most of the people in AA, but I can see myself getting there eventually had I not stopped.

QuitForSon

Thanks everyone for the responses I am the OP.

I have found that I really can relate to and am doing the Rational Recovery (AVRT) method, it really make sense to me so I am very glad I found out about it. As for AA I am very glad it has and is helping so many but it just not the right fit for me. This is my 8th day sober and I am feeling very positive. I haven't had any major cravings yet most likely due to the RR method which works directly on cravings and addiction. I am also going to the gym, running, eating much better and keeping myself as busy as possible as part of my plan.

Anyways once again thanks to everyone for their excellent replies to this thread, I did not know what a can a worms I was opening by posting what I did although I'm glad I did as I have an even better understanding of AA as a whole.

Thanks,
Brian

Meraviglioso

Awesome to hear Brian, congratulations on 8 days, that is fantastic! Let me see if I can dig up a link that sober wolf posted a few weeks back, it really helped me and seemed to fit well with AVRT.

Meraviglioso

Here you go Brian: http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-cravings.html

It really seems so obvious but it took reading the article to realize that not only did I not have to give into my cravings as I recognized it was my AV speaking, I didn't even have to begin to have the battle. I can choose to just not even start the battle at all.