I do not want....

[Bon7737]

AA shoved down my throat!

[fennel]

I do not want....

I hate most of the slogans, too, but please understand the kindness and caring spirit that was behind it ...

[chartreuse_lily]

I do not want....

I'm not a big fan of AA myself. In fact I have a certain amount of anger towards the group but anger isn't always a bad thing.

You can make anger work for you.

My anger was one of the things that motivated me to stop drinking. I was determined to get sober on my own terms, without AA.

I'm a month sober now and I will admit that during the first weeks one of the only thing that kept me from picking up a drink was sheer spite. I was going to prove AA wrong. I avidly read the anti-AA site Orange Papers. I joined a 12-Step Free group on Yahoo. I was bitter and hostile and hateful and negative but at least I wasn't drinking.

I seem to have it out of my system now and I'm able to come at recovery from a more positive angle. I'm trying to define myself by the things I'm for, growth, empowerment, creativity, and health rather than the things I'm against.

[mylife]

I do not want....

Great post Char!

I also have to say I'm not a fan of AA...it just didn't work for me. However, it does work for many people so I'm careful to keep my opinion positive and supporive for those who it works for!

Happy AF evening all.

[chartreuse_lily]

I do not want....

Thanks Mylife,

Supporting each other whatever path we choose is very important and I think being a part of this community is definitely going to temper my harsh view of AA.

I live in a rural community where AA is about the only option for support and because I don't use it I've been very isolated in my recovery. When I was on my own, it was easy to cast AA in the role of the abstract enemy but now that I'm interacting with real people I don't need to do that as much any more.