All you AA'rs...oppinions please

[Ripple]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

...oh and 88 days is awesome! ... roud:
...and i don't have a sponsor .... :dontagree:
... AA works for everyone differently... :important:
... i don't drink the coffee there ... :nomonkey:

but i keep going ..... :gramps:

[Sunbeam]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Allen Carr in his book, Easy Way to Stop Drinking, spoke about the dominance of AA in our culture. It is a big organization, which means lots of money and political power. I am grateful that they help the people they do, but it never sounded attractive or meaningful to me.

[SK8RGRL]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Thanks guys, as I said I do enjoy my interaction in the meetings and have found great support there. My thinking has alternated between throwing in the towel and not going anymore, and then on the other hand, sticking to my guns and doing it MY way.. meaning as others have confirmed.. taking what I need and leaving the rest behind. After all, I do have "a desire to stop drinking" (step 3) and that on it's own makes me fully entitled to be in those rooms regardless of whether or not I follow the "program". So - yes, I WILL do it My way and continue to go as and when I need to. I consider it one of the tools that is keeping me focused on staying sober along with MWO and my GP's help. XXX

[lucky 2.0]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Thanks for the reminder Sunbeam. I loved Allen Carr's book and need to read it perpetually.

[hurricane]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

i dont think people can just start a prayer life etc, i think it has to be in you to do that. and most people who 'find god' do it because they are ashamed of things they have done in their past etc. and are trying to prove they have changed!! god didnt start me drinking. i did. and its me that i need to look at not god.

[SK8RGRL]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

yep H, my philosophy too. And like I say, I am selfish and will therefore just take what I want and leave the rest. Its all about a healthy balance and finding what works for you. I also wont be dictated to as to who I give a lift to. My recovery - My way.

[Ripple]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

well, one guy today said he has been dreaming of a big pitcher of lemonade and A 5th. of vodka .... hearing that made me want a ciggie! :excuseme:

[SK8RGRL]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Oh dear. Well can't fault his honesty.

[hurricane]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

come in for chat in bit im on the other one :l

[5thaday]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

In my opinion, AA is not a very good program, among other things for a major reason that you mentioned; the higher power component. I once attended an outpatient addiction treatment program heavily influenced by AA-speak, and I quickly dropped out because it seemed like a cult. To give a brief background, I am highly-educated, lots of scientific training, and I highly value using reason before I adopt certain conclusions. The notion of faith makes no sense to me. In any case, rather than recognizing and respecting this, the AA-inspired counsellor I saw accused me of being confrontational and aggressive. I, in turn, accused her of being unable to provide a minimal degree of rational support for many of her AA convictions, so we hit a stalemate. Rather than defend her views, she would throw the platitudes like, "stinkin' thinkin'", "one day at a time, one meeting at a time", "agnostic arrogance", or my personal favourite, "dry drunk syndrome". Apparently I am destined to be a dry-drunk, who although no longer using alcohol, will succumb to a life of internal torment due to my refusal to adopt the spiritual component of AA. That, in a nutshell, is my negative experience of AA, but interestingly enough I have heard many, many other similar or even worse experiences. I'm not trying to make members here who are in AA feel bad, but I feel that it is my rational duty to assert my negative opinion of AA here, if only so someone else can get a more effective treatment. So in a nutshell, if you are having these grave doubts about AA already, I would pursue other options. Try SOS- Secular Organization for Sobriety; they have support meetings, although they might charge a small fee, I forget. Other than that, I would recommend talking to people here on chat. Personally, I have encountered greater insight and support from other members here than through all other avenues I've sought out to combat my drinking combined! Good luck.

[SK8RGRL]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Thanx 5thaday very honest post. The metafores are very patronising." a day at a time", i"n these rooms", "stick with the winners", and I am sick of hearing "you know" in everyones shares. "you know, you know, you know..." every other sentence. Also I was sat between 2 people on the "program" who reaked of booze. That was tough for me.

[barebones]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

ohwell ive only had a positive experience from AA within the 2 groups of meetings i go to. im sure there is other groups that i wouldnt like also. it all depends on the type of people u meet. as u know us humans have so many defected characters anyway. im finding that depending where ur from like ur from US and im from UK, is that my AA meetings is open minded inwhich individual persons does not push there way of thinking on others. and what we get from the traditions and steps is that they are suggested not rules. ive been told to wait some time before going on the steps and getting a sponser, but as i find that when i go to another group is they think u should try to go on steps and sponsor when u can. but all of it is up to u. noone forces anyone. at the moment i am working on the steps myself and coming to my own conclusions. i will say that im a down to eath type of person and i have never really had any faith specialy on humans and also had not a bean of spirtuality in my body, and the other thing is i dont believe in god. so how did i get around this? well for me to make this work is i searched in myself in what i liked and what was making me worse,i soon booted one thing out of my life and that came a sense of faith and spiritual side, and then i was able to find my kind of higher power, which is a her and i do not recognise her as a god in anyway, only a creator. so this is my way in how i found her and its to my understanding not anyone elses. so on that note as its been suggested is take what u want and dont take in what makes u feel uncomfortable. im taking that in US is that they have tooken AA away from what was intended and not really taking what the big books is offering which is suggestion and not put apone others. so im sry ur finding it hard. i guess im luck in finding a good group of people.

anyway take care all.

[myra]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Been to many, many AA, Alanon and Alateen meeting in my life. The thing that is very clear is that you are to take what you like and leave the rest. No one can dictate the "God of your Understanding", or lack one. And that there are 12 steps and 12 traditions to follow (traditions for the good of AA as a whole). You do not have to get a sponsor or drink the coffee.

Find a group that has the flavor you like. Some groups are way better than other.

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

All you AA'rs...oppinions please

Sk8r... I have to preface my comments with I've never been to an AA meeting. I am a closet alcoholic, as many women are... which is why I'm here.

If your group works for you, like Myra said, keep the flavor.

Along with Roberta Jewell and Allen Carr, I also admire Jean Kirkpatrick, who founded "Women for Sobriety". In the 70's Jean knew she had a problem, but felt that the 12 steps were too passive. She went to AA, but failed numerous times, and ultimately decided that the model didn't apply well for women (there were few there in the 70s). Eventually, she wrote a book and started her group. When I first started questioning my drinking habits, I found her website, . Her philosophy helped me analyze my drinking without the guilt (if that makes sense) .... it's a good website to research on, but certainly not a replacement for MWO (thanks RJ :heart...

(Like "My Way Out", her book is very enlightening- You might find it in the local library, or used on amazon.com...
"Goodbye Hangovers, Hello Life". It is a good complement to "My Way Out", because it deals more with the societal pressures that promotes Alcoholics Anonymous as the "Be all- End all" solution. Rather than admitting we are "powerless over alcohol", she says,

"I have a life threatening problem that once had me".... to me, THAT is much more impactful, because it means that
(a) my drinking interferes with my life,
(b) I know that my alcoholism still exists, and
(c) I am now in charge of this problem.

She also doesn't buy into turning everything over to a "higher power", but instead says,
"I am responsible for myself and my actions"... so in essence, taking the power away from Alcohol and giving it back to yourself. That suits me much better than, "Well, I talked to the Father today, and he told me not to drink."(that's my other sister!) ... let me tell you, if I "talked to the Father today", he'd brag about the sunshine and the glorious day :rays:, and then he'd tell me to crack open a Miller Lite, and raise it in celebration of this wonderful world! :beach:

:cents