just starting on my road
 

I like this forum. I like the talk of the power to change coming from within ourselves. I went to an AA meeting and read from the book it was not for me. While I was at the meeting. I admitting I am an alcoholic. I asked how to move further without god. They could not get past what you think nothing is more powerful than you? There are a lots of things more powerful but I certainly don't see praying and turning my life over to them as helpful. No disrespect to believers intended.

Hey there,

I have been there many a time. I have struggled with the god issue and drank. In my opinion there has to be a power greater than myself to help me stop because I have tried so many times on my own self will and it didn't work.

What has worked from some is let the power of the group be your higher power. Surely the care, love and support of a group of recovering drunks can be more power than yourself when it comes to stop drinking.

Try going to a couple more meetings. Don't be afraid to talk to someone after the meeting. They have all been there.

also read the chapter of the agnostic. It helped me a great deal.

Hi snohomishaa.

I'm glad you found your way to Secular Connections. I certainly understand how you feel about your experience.

I used Rational Recovery/AVRT to obtain permanent abstinence. There are several threads here that discuss AVRT. You can also google Rational Recovery AVRT and take their crash course which only takes about 15 minutes or less.

I am NOT powerless and I am NOT doing this one day at a time. I made a permanent decision to never drink again and never change my mind.

If I had known something like this existed when I first got "sober" I would never have gotten involved in a program that goes completely against my grain.

Rational Recovery is achieving permanent abstinence from drinking/using, PERIOD. It makes no other claims.

Welcome to the Secular Connections forums, snohomashiaa. Most of us here in the secular connections forums have had some exposure to more conventional recovery methods, so we can relate to what you mentioned about your experience.

I am right there with Received when he says he wishes he had heard of AVRT long ago. It's working for me. I didn't have to find my higher power, I had to understand my lower power - that addicted part of my brain that tries to convince me that I could, should, need to drink. Once I understood that beast - and the absolute power I have over it - everything fell into place.

I wish you well on your journey.

Yeah I ordered rational recovery looking forward to reading it. I also ordered thrush about addiction and recovery anyone had experience with it?

I have been sober now for 5 months and I haven't had to alter my worldview or compromise my principles in any way. I'm a skeptic and an atheist so the higher power concept just doesn't gel with me. You don't need it unless you need it, it's that simple.

Just stay committed to sobriety and do what ever it takes to remain that way. Don't let anyone tell you what you need- certainly take in the advice of others and try to apply however you can- but anyone who tells you that you need to believe one thing over another to stay sober is off base. You will find plenty of people in this world have been able to maintain long term sobriety without religion, or even without any specific program. It's just about committing to sobriety, which can be accomplished in an endless number of ways, and you can always fit it into your life and your vision of reality, whatever that may be.

As an atheist AA member I can understand your position on the G*g/HP business snohomishaa. If AA is not for you, no problem. I use mostly CBT and DBT to gather-in control of my behavior and thoughts. Tho I do think AVRT is great. There are some great AVRT threads here in Secular Forum, read through those if you please.

Acquiring the knowledge (research the different recovery programs/plans or make-up your own) to live a healthier life, then put that know-how into practice. Having my own custom wellness plan (mental illness treatments/addiction treatments = recovery tools) dose make being recovered a more relaxed and balanced state.

Keep posting and keep moving in the best direction.

I'm about half way through reading rational recovery. I wonder if anyone else has thought if it is making(asking) I to drink. What else is it asking me to do in other concerns?

Yeah, I have had the same thoughts, snohomishaa and actually a lot of the thinking and behaviors I had while drinking my fool head off have seemed to disappear or at the very least toned down.

What kind of things are you wondering about, if you care to share.

I was wondering about any ways the beast keeps us down. For me I think I question myself way to much. I let my lower brain keep me from being who i want to be. Beast tells me to be macho uncaring person because caring is weakness to it. If we can use our cerebral cortex to control addiction what else can we control? Can we improve ourself in all facets of our lives? I think so. I'm trying to be a better person day by day. I guess i have answered my own question we can use our brain to do as we please. I'm going to use mine to make my world better. Question everything and follow your heart.

Hi Sno-

Yeah, I think SMART Recovery discusses bettering yourself and learning self-control in the way that you describe. I could be wrong, I just did some basic reading about it. Like the others here, I use AVRT.

I am a believer in God, but the God issue wasn't my problem with AA. My problem with AA is that I didn't accept that I had a disease or that I was powerless. I accepted that alcohol and I can never be friends, but I needed to be able to trust myself and rely on myself to remain sober. And it works for me. For some reason, having only myself to get the job done really motivates me.

I agree with you on we have the power and it is thought not a disease.