AA Thread

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

awesome mary! glad you got such a good feeling from the 3rd step...kind of a relief? that 4th step is taking me a while, we have done it in mini steps,but i can see the end of it now...well, the end of this part of it, it goes on forever, really, right?

porquoi thanks for your perspective and i'm glad that my post was good for you...that's what aa is all about for me, learning from everyone's shares...it's such a cool connection we all have.

well, i hope to get to my meeting and check in w/ my sponsor (its our home group), and to get a little bit of that "spiritual food" and energy from my fellows!

take care all and have a peaceful day!

[porqoui]

AA Thread

Morning all...

BG...hope you were able to get to your meeting yesterday. I'm looking forward to mine on Sunday. I'm starting to think I need to get out to a few more during the week. Finding I'm getting pretty lackadaisical about AA at the moment.

Mary...glad your step 3 was so freeing. What a great feeling. The more I engage on this thread the more I want to get more serious about my AA program, so thanks for that.

Have a good one all....PPQP

[retteacher]

AA Thread

PQ & BG: I appreciate your checking into this thread. I look forward to reading about what you are thinking & doing. I go to at least 4 - 6 meetings per week. I'm retired so I can do that wo/too much of a problem. This week I've been 5 for 5 so far. I find that when I go to meetigs...especially my AM meetings...my day goes 100% better. I don't get into stinkin' thinkin' or moodiness. When I hear about relapse, falling off of meetings is a theme in almost every case. It was definitely an issue for me when I relapsed. I was going to meetings but only the familiar ones. I wasn't listening as well w/the thought that I could improve. I had stopped growing in the program. I had gotten lazy about it. Committment has to be renewed in order for the program to grow in me.

Take care one & all.

M

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

i agree...it takes going to meetings and keeping that "frame of mind". i think i could do aa with only meetings if i had to...they are like food for the soul.

i made it to my meeting last night...i am always conflicted when the meeting gets really...for lack of a better word, religious. maybe i am just uncomfortable with religion and i know it's supposed to be a spiritual program, but this was a serious christian god evangelizing night, and it sort of threw me for a loop. everyone there was focused ona newcomer (which is GREAT!), and he was a christian, so they seemed to just go bonkers aboutn the book and all the references towhat they think is obviously a christian god. if that had been my first meeting, i never would have gone back. a few folks talked about the hp of our own understanding, but it was definitely a christian theme...i know that is probaly what bill and dr bob were talking about when they wrote the book, but it is supposed to be our understanding...anyway, even though i sound resentful, i am not. i was able to use my own concept of high power, and use what i needed and left the rest. i guess us atheists will always be outside the norm in this world, and that's ok.

anyway, hope everyone has a good weekend, i will be enjoying the sunshine and working on cooking some big pots of somethign for the week ahead.
take care!!!

peace!

[porqoui]

AA Thread

Morning all....

I think falling off of meetings and not posting on MWO go hand in hand. I know that's what happened to me when I had my one and only so called "slip" awhile back.

With the warmer weather trying to appear I think it'll be easier for me to get out there.

They are like "food for the soul" aren't the BG.

Got a millon things on my mind this morning, hosting a dinner show tonight, so appologies for the short post.

Have a great day....PPQP

[retteacher]

AA Thread

BG: I really get disturbed when I hear about Christian prosteltizing at meetings. It's not supposed to happen. I've been reading the history of AA: "Dr. Bob & the Good Oldtimers" & "AA Comes of Age." It's very explicit in those books that AA is supposed to be spiritual not religious w/the god of our understanding. Both Dr. Bob & Bill W. understood the magnitude of the AA movement, & that there would be plenty of non-Christians & non-believers who would need AA. I just read recently about groups in the LA area that were formed around the agnostic/atheistic beliefs. Anyone can go, but ags & aths were the founders...instead of the Lord's Prayer at the end, they say the "responsibility" pledge. Would you feel awkward or uncomfortable about bringing this issue up at a business meeting? I know it would be intimidating...you'd probably be way outnumbered. However, you never know who in the group is also disturbed the Christian slant. Good luck. M

[cpn1004]

AA Thread

Lots of good comments here. Thanks to everyone that contributes. You may never know who's life you touch.

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

mary, i definitely shuld go to a group conscious meeting and bring it up. the cool thing is, the people at that meeting are really great and open to others. they also value me and i them, so i know they will listen and be fair to me. thanks for the encouragement. i learn a lot from a lot of those folks, and the one i learn the most from went from an atheist skid row alcoholic to being saved from it all by an old timer to running the program of recovery at the local mission, so he is very amazing, but it's all about god for him, and that's great, for him! a lot of folks learn a lot from him (and he doesn't prostelitize), so i totally listen to him when he speaks.
anyway, that was jumbled, i'm heading out to a sunday night 90 minute meeting that i really like. lots of diversity and interesting folks.

peace!

phil, you are so right!

hi proquoi!

[retteacher]

AA Thread

In the BB, it states that we often find ourselves w/people "who wouldn't ordinarily mix." For me, this includes people of certain religious leanings. As long as I'm not judged for my beliefs/non-beliefs, I'm OK. In fact, because of the tradition that states that AA should stay out of politics, religion, etc., I really don't even know what my friends' religions or political beliefs are. If I did, I might not want to be friends w/them. When the traditions were formed, the founders really did try to keep AA free of all kinds of factions which would have destroyed it long ago.

I'm doing well w/attending meetings. I learn something from each one.

Mary

PS: Here in the USA, yesterday, March 17th, was St. Patrick's Day. I live in Massachusetts in an area that has a big Irish population & big parade w/everything that goes w/the celebration of this holiday. We had AA friends over for corned beef & cabbage. We had plenty of laughs wo/the green beer or Jameson's. It felt good to wake up today headache free.

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

yes, no hangovers are the best part of sobreity for me! i could not function before i got sober, because i was always nursing a hangover there at the end...YUCK! glad you had fun, i forgot to even wear green!

thanks for the other reminder mary, and you are so right. the meeting i went to on sunday was a good reminder of exactly what you said, and made me realize that sometimes i just need to listen and that it's not all about me! i learn from these folks, and for that i am grateful, no matter why or what, i should look at what they teach me and not even worry about the rest. hopefully the traditions and promises being read at the beginning of meetings will help newcomers to see what aa is all about, and if they stick around, they will see.

have a good one one and all!

beth

[retteacher]

AA Thread

I think there's a line in AA or Alanon literature that says: "Take what you like & leave the rest." Bill W. didn't expect that everyone would embrace AA 100%. There were plenty of growing pains in the beginning. I'm also not a total AA purist. I do think there are other ways of getting sober. My brother & son are sober wo/AA. My son went in the beginning of his sobriety but found it too much of a committment for his single-Dad lifestyle. He's got some really good sobriety...so does my brother who has never gone to AA. To each his/her own. Mary

[retteacher]

AA Thread

The above said: I really need AA & couldn't get sober wo/it. M

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

checking in...nothing to say except, hi!

[Doggygirl]

AA Thread

Hi all! "Take what you need and leave the rest." I love that. That and "wear the world like a loose garment."

I too was very happy to be hangover free on 3/18!

BG - I think the opportunity to learn how to bring up our concerns in a group setting in an appropriate way is such a valuable thing AA offers us a chance to do. I realize more and more that I really didn't have good role modeling in my life in terms of how to express myself appropriately when I disagreed. Heck - the way I was raised it was just plain inappropriate to EVER express disagreement in my home! The only way I ever witnessed my parents handling "disagreement" was with some explosive statements at each other, followed by lengthy pouting and silent treatment. No wonder I've had challenges through my life learning how to handle conflict with people and learning how to agreeably disagree!

Anyway - I just wanted to say how much I value the relatively safe (but certainly not perfect!) environment of AA where learning better ways to relate to people and even disagree with people is a benefit. I even see the "crusty (grumpy) old timers" :lol: as a learning opportunity - how can I co-exist with these types (who do rub me the wrong way often) without having my peace disturbed? That's invaluable!

Good to see everyone!

DG

[porqoui]

AA Thread

Just checking in to say hi...

Been crazy busy the last few days and still a few more days of it to come.

Hoping things settle down soon so I can get back into my posting routines.

Just wanted you to know I'm still here, except yesterday, was totally lost when the site was down.....PPQP