Thought about going to an AA or NA meeting...
If I read the Big Book, there is a lot I hate – the aggressive godliness, the weird 1930s lingo, etc. But if I look, for example, at the humanist 12 steps (the B.S. Skinner version that someone linked to the other day), they don’t remotely seem to grasp how much difficulty and desperation all alcoholics will go through. They just seem glib.
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Hi Alera, I don't much like Skinner either (my brain is not just a blob of stimuli!). I really didn't want to suggest that that seriousness couldn't be found anywhere else, only in AA. I was just trying to convey something very positive that I've got from AA, in spite of (maybe even because of) being a non-believer in a supernatural Higher Power.
peace, NL.
peace, NL.
LOL nolonger!! Freudian slip?? LOL
I use operant conditioning and reinforcement every day..but I work with dogs. It seems to work well for them. He created an excellent foundation for animal behaviorists. I don't feel it can always be exponentially expanded to encompass every behavior in every being. It doesn't consider the emotional intelligence of the subject. I think that's why even agnostics can find his 12 steps lacking somehow.
-Moni
sorry if i rambled off topic a bit.
I use operant conditioning and reinforcement every day..but I work with dogs. It seems to work well for them. He created an excellent foundation for animal behaviorists. I don't feel it can always be exponentially expanded to encompass every behavior in every being. It doesn't consider the emotional intelligence of the subject. I think that's why even agnostics can find his 12 steps lacking somehow.
-Moni
sorry if i rambled off topic a bit.
That sucks. I've never seen dope at an NA meeting. I did see a guy get run off outside one of our Alano clubs for supposably pushing dope. And they wound up literally chasing the dude down the street. We have one breakfast meeting on Sunday mornings. Most of the people there are from the Restitution center and only there to get out of jail for a few hours and see their GF or BF. I dont go there. Just not for me anymore. Sorry NA/AA didnt work for you. But I wouldnt dis it. Thanks to Narcotics Anonymous I am coming up on 19 months clean. NA saved my life. NA gave me a life. Not to mention I have made some of the best friends I have ever had in those rooms. Im the secretary at one of my groups. I sign plenty of court slips for the "mandated" members. I listen to plenty of BS from newcomers or people who dont know what theyre talking about. But I also hear a lot of ES&H at meetings I attend. Most the people down on NA/AA have never thoroughly worked the steps. So how could they say whether or not it works? AA/NA has saved thousands of lives. Many people have stayed sober or clean for years and years thanks to the program. Theres way more to the program then simply attending meetings. Without NA my being clean would be no more than simple abstinance. I would still be the same sick, miserable person I was 19 months ago. Today I choose recovery. I have worked the 12 steps. I know they work. At least for me they did. I am here to carry the message and share my experience, strength, and hope to the newcomer or still suffering addict. AA/NAdoes work if you work it.
The AA meetings I went to early on in my recovery helped. Just being around others with the same problem was good. I was so messed up. Back then it was mostly people who wanted to be there. I left when the mandated folks took over the meetings and the snoring was so loud I couldn't hear people talk. I couldn't handle or understand the religious stuff either. I'm a do-it-yourselfer and I'm doing well. I do thank AA for help early on.
My choice on this is that we in the UK have 1 SMART Meetin and it's Pretty new here ,...and the Tool box is Great,..I Like to take what i Need n leave the rest as they say,....I would Miss the friends i meet in NA and the Hope of Listening to someone further down the road than me ....I need to know im not alone in Insane thinking at times ,...But when it comes to HP,....Its of My Understanding and ...It works for me ,..and Many others ...!
Im DEFO ...Not Jumpin on some Bandwagon and Say GOD saved my life,...The Others that listened and helped and my Consiuos Choice to Get clean saved my life.!,.and I came round a few Yrs ago now so see the Flaws in NA ,...But It works if you want it to ,...!
In Britain we Dont Have much Choice and Not Many Addicts have puters Here thats for Damn sure Until they Clean Up..!
In NA as Here there is No other Option,...or Go it Alone ,...!
That Never worked before ,...So i Go to NA for Hope,Friends,strength,Unity and a hug if I want one or Need one ...!
I take out of it what i NEED from Many areas of ,..Life,... so I surpose Im in the DIY camp on that one ....But Go to meetins and enjoy them aswell,...!
JMHO..
...xXx...
Im DEFO ...Not Jumpin on some Bandwagon and Say GOD saved my life,...The Others that listened and helped and my Consiuos Choice to Get clean saved my life.!,.and I came round a few Yrs ago now so see the Flaws in NA ,...But It works if you want it to ,...!
In Britain we Dont Have much Choice and Not Many Addicts have puters Here thats for Damn sure Until they Clean Up..!
In NA as Here there is No other Option,...or Go it Alone ,...!
That Never worked before ,...So i Go to NA for Hope,Friends,strength,Unity and a hug if I want one or Need one ...!
I take out of it what i NEED from Many areas of ,..Life,... so I surpose Im in the DIY camp on that one ....But Go to meetins and enjoy them aswell,...!
JMHO..
...xXx...
Everyone has there own opinions on how it works and why. Whatever works for you do it. A person can be to smart for recovery but they can't be to dumb. The smarter a person is the harder it is for them to get it. Being a smart person is a real job. I am so smart that I have earned a seat here at SR. Yea I'm a real genius. I don't thing anyone comes to SR just to hang out with a bunch of alcoholics, drug addicts and Codie's. There must be a reason for you being here. Some people are here looking for someone to cosign there BS. Sometimes nonsense makes sense to me. Why do people try and run down NA-AA. The facts are NA and AA has worked for thousands of people and is a proven way to stay clean and sober and find a new way to live. If it doesn't work for you so be it. If a person doesn't change there thought and belief process they are prone to keep making the same mistakes over and over. What ever you do come back in a year and let us know how it worked out for you. Love and Respect. p.s.The lie is dead we do recover.
That's exactly the the kind of condescending rhetoric that keeps me from going...
Smart People With Bad Ideas
Good reading for Smart people. http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/essay40.htm
Interesting the post about drugs at NA. Recently there was a feature on television about a man in my town who was a recovering addict. My friend turned to me and said "They are meeting where we vote and dealing dope right outside the NA meeting." I then explained that was my meeting, that is one reason I stopped going and that even in the "good" parts of town, you will see it if you know where to look. It was a real eye opener for my friend who has been wondering why I don't do NA.
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Rockjock has been around the block (and still clueless): 1989 Bad Bottom-Jump start-Treatment They told me I was sick had a “disease” and that I should find a different “crutch” (aka HP/GOD). I was contained, introspective by requirement, exposed to RET and found out that I was not alone (all good stuff). I thought the 12-steps and God/HP were a joke, but as suggested did the “acted as if” or “fake it till you make it”. Left treatment went to AA to get “clean”, started drinking after about 2.5 yrs into the program. 1.5 years of “only” drinking, I determined that the booze was going to take me to a very similar place as my former DOC Note: Higher bottom and no crossover to DOC while drinking). I decided not to go down the alcohol path, went to CA meeting, picked up a white chip and got “sober” for 4.5 yrs. Seven years without my original DOC. To hookup with a not so lady-like lady I decided maybe a little C would be ok. Back out for about 7 months of Semi-Un/controlled D & D. (Note: I did not start back were I had left off as profit zed). However, it was very difficult to clean and sober back up. It took 2 meetings a day for the first 30 days. I went mostly to NA (home group, sponsor, etc) to get both “clean” and “sober” and drove the old school NAs crazy every time I said the word “sober”. The saga (RR, SMART, ME) continues but their may be a word limit and believe it or not I do Have a Point. Each time I worked the steps I felt silly and like I was living a different lie. To they own self be true! The “Rooms” and the people who have chosen the Steps as a design for living saved my butt. The meetings are what YOU make of them and you get to practice patience and tolerance with an open mind. I enjoy stopping in meetings (to dispel the myth that If you not in the rooms your loaded) and maybe help carry a little different message to a closet Secularist.
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