Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Mary, there is so much hope out here for your daughter. Sister's mastectomy was less than 3 weeks ago, and today the surgeon declared that she is cancer free based on all the tissues they tested. It can be this way for your daughter too. There is so much that is possible with modern medicine today. Sister sends hope to Patty.

No matter what happens in our lives, I am so glad that we can hold up our heads and not compound our problems with the guilt and remorse of alcoholic drinking and the attending consequences.

Todays Daily Reflections reading was the subject of the meeting I attended. It was about turning a negative into a positive. The specific example in the reading was about relapse, and turning that negative experience into a positive by learning from it. What I learned from my relapse in 2007 was 1) I am an alcoholic and as such, I cannot safely drink, ever. I didn't fully believe it until after the relapse, and such huge difficulty getting back on the wagon. 2) That relapse humbled me enough to be willing to go to any length to get and stay sober, including going to AA (which I said I would NEVER do). It's the best thing I've done in a long, long time.

So yes, I can see how in my life, that negative experience of relapse ended up with some positive outcomes.

DG

[cpn1004]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

DG, I think several of us here said we would never go to AA. Wow, what a change
Sending good thoughts to Mary and family.

[wannachange]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Hi everyone.
I have never been to this section because up until recently I was denying I was an alcoholic, I am ready now to tell the world that I am one, even with a bit of pride.
I am thinking of going to AA but am a little hesitant because I heard it focuses a lot around religion where I come from - Ireland, I suppose I should just go and find out but it would be nice to hear from you guys when you get a chance what I can expect and why some are closed and some are open and how to actually get into the closed ones.
Thanks in advance

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Hi Phil! You are right - AA has sure changed a life or two around here!

wannachange, you are right that the only way to know what AA is like is to just go to some meetings. I always suggest trying a few different ones. Each group of people has a little bit different dynamic. Sometimes it's good to try a few different groups to find one that best suits you.

An open meeting is open to anyone. Closed meetings are limited to those who have a desire to stop drinking. (a desire to stop drinking is the only requirement for membership in AA) While many people introduce themselves by first name, and "alcoholic" status, that is not required. Only a desire to stop drinking is required.

You never have to talk unless you want to.

I have found it incredibly comforting to realize that I am NOT alone in any way with my alcohol problem, or with the consequences of my drinking. Or with the difficulty in stopping drinking.

I hope you go check it out. I've made a lot of new friends there!

DG

[Winefree]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

DG, love your new avatar! I just got my one year coin tonight(they give them out the end of the month here) and it looks similar to yours only with a I .
Yes, AA has changed my life and I also said "Never". I'll keep going and stopping here to keep sober.
Enjoyed the relapse stories with that reading tonight. I need to hear those stories so I can learn from others mistakes(not that I wish ill will for anyone). I hope they sink in to my brain, so I don't have to learn the hard way. This is so much easier.

Winefree

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

WF, congrats on picking up your one year coin! Didn't that feel great? I've been to other meetings where they do that periodically rather than any old meeting too. Further demonstration of the groups deciding among themselves how things will be done.

Sometimes I can't believe where my mind goes with regard to this addiction. It is completely irrational for me to have any thoughts of drinking safely, and yet there are times when those very thoughts cross my mind. I guess when it comes to "noise" of thoughts inside my head, I need the "noise level" of TRUTH about what happens when I drink (and what would happen if I drank again) to be louder than the AL Lies that something has changed. Like you, I of course do not wish anyone a relapse. But when it happens, I need to hear about it to keep the TRUTH loud in my head.

If that makes any sense at all.

Mary, I am thinking of you and Patty today and praying for your strength.

DG

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

DG: Thank you so much for your words about your sister. We're in the absolute worst part of the journey...the beginning. However, we are in action mode: appointments, 2nd opinions, etc. Also, you are so right. I don't need to add remorse & self-hatred on top of an already difficult situation by drinking.

Wanna: I NEVER thought I'd ever go to AA. I spent a lot of years wondering/denying my alcoholism. When I joined AA, I realized that normal drinkers don't wonder about their drinking. They just drink normally. So, I don't have a problem today admitting I'm an alcoholic. That admitting is one of the foundations of how I stay sober today.

Mary

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Hello all! I don't usually get to go to my home group meeting Friday mornings because I normally have a couple of work meetings. But since it's a holiday weekend, the work stuff was cancelled and I was able to go. It's a 12&12 meeting on Fridays. (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions for any non-AAers reading) We discussed Step 5.

Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

I originally thought all the same things the literature warns about. I didn't think I needed to admit anything to anyone other than maybe God. It's nobody else's business anyway, right?

I am coming to realize new things all the time that doing step 5 properly has done positively for me. Right away, I felt the relief that everyone talks about just getting my garbage off my chest. I also started to feel like I could forgive myself for my deepest darkest wrongs. Today, I realized something else. Sister knows my darkest secrets, but she likes me anyway. That's huge for me. I am so insecure inside with a facade of "bravado" on the outside. I was VERY grateful to realize that Step 5 benefited me in that additional way today.

Clearing the wreckage of our pasts is no small feat. Whether people do it the AA way, or some other way, I just hope everyone finds SOME way. The relief is incredible.

DG

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Clearing up the wreckage of the past. My sponsor told me:
-Trust God
-Clean house
-Help another alcoholic.

I couldn't be more grateful for my sobriety than I am today.

I'm getting through this horrendous crisis OK.

Mary

[cpn1004]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Hang in there Mary.

[Doggygirl]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Thinking of you Mary. I hope all is as well as it can be today. Please keep faith and hope!

We read this story today at Big Book Study. http://www.aa.org/bigbookonline/en_t...earlyall11.pdf As it happened, two people in the rooms today know this man and have heard him speak. So they know the backdrop of what was going on at the time with the FAA needing to crack down on drinking and flying. So when this guy happened to be the one to get nailed, it was a huge media circus. Somehow through it all he accepted the consequences (prison time and loss of his right to fly) and embraced recovery, and went on to build a good life for himself - even climbing the uphill climb to get to fly again. Apparently he also has done a lot of really great work both in and out of AA helping others and society. It was one of those stories that everyone found a different way to connect with, and it was very interesting hearing everyone's comments.

A big group of us went out for breakfast after the meeting. We had some really good conversation, and also a lot of belly laughing too. I was laughing so hard I was crying at one point. I thought "who needs a drink to have fun with this bunch????" Several of us women also talked about how we are on a journey to discover ourselves in sobriety. So many of us always to some degree, felt the need for a man to make us complete. I'm lucky that my husband is so supportive of my being strong and independent and finding the Real Me. All of us women agreed that it's a course we want to stay on, wherever it leads.

I signed up for the Canoe Trip on 6/12.

DG

[retteacher]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

DG: You sound so darn happy! It's amazing.

Speaking about supportive husbands: Mine comes w/me to the small discussion on Sat. nights. He always says he gets something out of the meetings. Tonight he & I were talking to 2 members whose spouses sometimes give them a hard time about going to meetings. Non-drinkers sometimes don't understand how hard it is to stay sober & nearly impossible for some people to stay sober wo/AA.

My emotions are leveling off. This journey w/my daughter's cancer is truly a one day at a time journey. I'm doing it sober, & feeling all my feelings is difficult but necessary.

Mary

[Gaia]

Weekly AA Thread - Week of May 24 - 30

Mary just thinking about your daughter and what you are going through. It must feel good to deal with all your feelings sober.
DG thanks for sharing the story about the pilot.
And you should both count yourselves fortunuate to have supportive husbands. Now that's something to appreciate.
Bye for now.