Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

[retteacher]

Everyone: I'll be right back. Mary

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

I just read the last post of last week's AA thread. Cindi, I too find it much more difficult to stay on an even keel in the "real" non-AA world. One of the things I've been doing every day is saying the 7th step prayer, & asking HP to remove 5 of my most problem defects (in their various forms):
-arrogance/judgementalism
-anger/resentment/impatience
-dishonesty/deceitfulness
-control/manipulation
-self-centered fear/anxiety

I also ask HP to help me to examine my motives for what I say, do, & think. This seems to be working out, as I get a daily reminder of what my character defects are.

I'll be going to my women's meeting tonight.

Mary

[cpn1004]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

Greetings all, I'm still fighting off this cold. Now I have no voice, but feel pretty good. Oh well.
Hey, I was feeling a little bad for having to re-start my sobriety so much last year, but then I decided to view it differently. I had about 159 AF days in 2009. That is a new world record for me. Sure they were not all consecutive but still not a bad year at all.
I will continue one day a time for this year.

Thanks to you all for maintaining this thread.

[cuckoosnest83]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

I attended an on-line aa meeting today. Since so many of the meetings are later in the evening I found this one at 3:00 pm fits my time schedule perfectly. I plan to go to "live" meetings to but at least I now have this as a back up.

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

C'snest: I've met people who really like on-line meetings. I'm glad it worked out. "Live" meetings are pretty great. I'm glad I gave it a try.

Phil: I'm so glad you added up so many of your sober days of last year. It must have given you such a sense of accomplishment. As far as relapses, slips, making the decision to drink, or whatever you want to call them: I did years of that. I would like to think that's all behind me now. However, I know that every alcoholic could relpse at any time. That's why I'm so adament about going to meetings regularly. That seems to be the only antidote that works for me.

I hear the phrase "this time around I'm doing it differently." I want this one time in AA to be my only time in AA. I don't want to take a hiatus, because I've heard all too often what that leads to.

I'm not sure whether it's the time of year of what it is, but the meetings I've been going to have been fraught w/emotion. Tonight's women's meeting had the same emotional tone...plenty of reminisences(sp?), plenty of tears, etc. Maybe that's one of the stengths of AA. Instead of the emotions being bottled up & ignored, they come out & are discussed. It wasn't inappropriate sharing (as I used to hear in Alanon occasionally). It was pure, heartfelt emotion. One young woman felt horrible about her past antics & felt her parents deserved better in a child. That gave me the opportunity to go up to her afterwards & speak to her from the parent point-of-view.

Mary

[gyco]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

yo

cpn1004;785407 wrote: Greetings all, I'm still fighting off this cold. Now I have no voice, but feel pretty good. Oh well.
Hey, I was feeling a little bad for having to re-start my sobriety so much last year, but then I decided to view it differently. I had about 159 AF days in 2009. That is a new world record for me. Sure they were not all consecutive but still not a bad year at all.
I will continue one day a time for this year.

Thanks to you all for maintaining this thread.

hi cpn,good theory you have,the number of days,365 - 159=206 you drank,since coming out of rehab i have used the same theory,this was not my intentions tho,2007=365-302=63 late start, october,hahahaha,,2008=365-178=187 2009 very interesting year, 365-137=228,the last number in each represents the days,i didnt drink,i keep saying to many and thts why this thread is so dear to my heart,AA is not for everyone,ive gone to AA for many years,beleive me i get it,dont drink,easier said then done,this program these 2 men,and many others including ourselves have contributed to,is a phenomenal program,there intentions were,i beleive,as long as you can keep get tin up,maybe one day you ll get it,simple to many,some people just cant drink,i have my calender rt above my left side on the wall,my goal this year is to fill it up,but only i can do that,thnx :thanks::goodjob:gyco

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

gyco: One of the things that amazes me about AA is how tolerant it is, both the literature & the acitive organization. I've never heard criticism either publically or privately when a person does it his/her own way. Case in point: My BIL has identified himself as an alcoholic. He's had some fairly horrendous occurances. Lately, I've seen him drinking moderately. No one in his immediate family has raised an eyebrow about it. My conclusion: If he can do it, all the more power to him. I know how I'd feel physically, emotionally, & spiritually if I took so much as a sip. So, I'm aiming for complete abs for as long as possible one day at a time.

Mary

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

I hope all is well w/everyone. At Christmastime, our small city was struck by arson. 14 fires were started, one was fatal to 2 people, a disabled man & his elderly father. The authorities just caught the perp, & it turns out that in addition to probably being a pretty disturbed guy, he was drunk the night he set the fires. For some, AL unleashes the inhibitions to fight those really bad impulses. Thank God that didn't happen to me (yet), but I do hear some pretty awful stories at meetings. Mary

[cuckoosnest83]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

Ret, there is a live AA meeting I went to that I really liked. Sunday am and Tuesday pm it is co-ed and Monday and Wednesday pm it is women's but it is a little far from where I live. Have checked out some in my area on the other days but haven't found one I like. My plan is to try to make the live meetings I like as often as I can and supplement that with on-line meetings and MWO while still checking out live meetings closer to home. Day 3 for me and feeling good today. No bad cravings.

[cuckoosnest83]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

This morning as I was getting ready for work I was thinking how today is day 3 for me and wondering if I could really go AF for an entire month let alone a year. It occured to me that if I truly want a sober life than each day of sobriety is contingent on the day before it being a sober day. This is only a slightly different take on one day at a time, but for me it has more of an impact. If I want to reach a 4th day of sobriety than I can't drink on the 3rd day or else I'm back at square one and that is definitely not the place I want to be.

cpn and gyco, I think you both did phenomenal in 2009. I hope 2010 is a successful year for all of us.

ret, thank you for this thread and keeping it going. I saw the news about the arsons in your town and was very sorry to hear about the disabled man and his father.

[YogaHeart25]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

I am just starting out....went to 2 meetings on Monday. I am one of those that took a long break from it. Some of it bad....some of it not so bad. Nothing bad occurred to drive me back...except a sense that I need it to stay sober.

[cpn1004]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

YogaHeart25,
Well then..welcome back. I hope you have a beautiful day.

[cowgal]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

am going today

I am going back today, picking up a white chip, need the right kind of help, that is where it is, starting all over AGAIN!!

MA

[gyco]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

hi teach

retteacher;785754 wrote: gyco: One of the things that amazes me about AA is how tolerant it is, both the literature & the acitive organization. I've never heard criticism either publically or privately when a person does it his/her own way. Case in point: My BIL has identified himself as an alcoholic. He's had some fairly horrendous occurances. Lately, I've seen him drinking moderately. No one in his immediate family has raised an eyebrow about it. My conclusion: If he can do it, all the more power to him. I know how I'd feel physically, emotionally, & spiritually if I took so much as a sip. So, I'm aiming for complete abs for as long as possible one day at a time.

Mary

hi teach[mary]i do agree with you,ive also never hurd criitisisms either,ever,but if looks could kill,and if we could only read minds in a meeting,or as humans , we listen to what others ! said ! so and so said.whats the old saying will have to agree to disagree,mary we no where this ailment can take someone.:goodjob::thanks:gyco

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of Jan. 4 - 10

cowgal & yoga: I'm so glad you've posted on this thread. It's a wonderful one. Please feel free to share what you think & hear at meetings. It helps all of us AAers. cowgal, I'm so glad you're picking up your chips. They mean a lot as you go along. In the beginning it might be difficult, but going up to the front of the meeting to applause really deepens the committment.

cuckoo'snest: In the beginning of my experience in AA, I found meetings I liked & meetings I didn't like. I now go to pretty much any meeting I can when I'm free to do so. Even at the weirdest meetings, I walk out w/something to contemplate. There are 3 meetings I really love but can't always get to all 3. Therefore, I'm finding that I go to the ones I thought I didn't like in order to give myself the requisite (for me) 3 - 4 weekly meetings. Going to multiple meetings @ week has been the only way I could stay sober, especially in the beginning.

I want to say that within a week, I had two fleeting drinking thoughts. They were more like reminiscences. I took a good hard look at them. I also thought back to all the awful drinking experiences that I've had. That seems to neutalize the drinking thoughts.

One day at a time...for me, one slip would send me spinning into a very bad place.

Mary