AA Thread

[retteacher]

AA Thread

DG: Glad to see you here & always enjoy your comments. I got a voice in AA. I was raised to be nice, not make waves, walk on eggshells, & not voice a feeling, thought, or opinion. Learning to speak up for myself has been one of the most valuable gifts of the AA program. I'll be back. Mary

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

this life is sure a good one...we will never stop learning and for that, i am grateful!

learning to express one's self is a gift, i am going to work on it.

i'm off to my sponsor's house to work on the last parts of step 4 about my assets...24 of them is what i had to come up with...whew! i did it though, and they are all true!

good talk at a meeting last night, topic was acceptance (pg 417 in the BB), and a friend of mine shared about being arrested the day before for driving on a suspended licence! it was good to talk about how life isn;t going to be hunky dory if we are still acting like drunks, and not accepting that we aren;t exceptions to the rules or to life's problems. luckily, the way we deal with what happens, (and what we create!) is a choice and we can accept to do the right thing there, or we can act like our old selves. things that used to baffle us...anyway!

have a good one all!

porquoi, hello!
phil, hi!
dg, always good to see you!
mary, hello!

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

was going to tell you guys about an app i have that keeps track of days, hours, minutes of sobriety and has the whole BB and 12x12 in it...it's called twelve steps companion...kind of cool to know that i've been sober for .46 years, 5.51 months, 168 days, and 4,019 hours!

[retteacher]

AA Thread

BG: I'm just about w/you on the date of sobriety. Put in those numbers, I feel I've really accomplished something.

Tonight's meeting very special. I'm presenting my sponsor w/her 25 year medallion. She's battling lung cancer w/an incredible amount of courage & dignity. I'm proud to be doing this.

These are precisely the experiences that I would be missing out on if I weren't a member of AA. So glad I am.

Mary

[Determinator]

AA Thread

hey! I see some friendly ol faces and just couldn't help but pop in and say howdy. I went to a really nice AA meeting today at noon. it was a discussion of step one from the study book.

I must say I'm stumped already on step one. groan!

they spoke of needing to bottom out for the alcoholic to begin their recovery. I thought that I'd bottomed out several times now....so frustrating! I'd like to think I'm AF to stay but i know how sneaky my damn brain is. maybe the combination of MWO, AA live meetings and good diet/exercise will be my magic combination.

love to all xxxxx

[Determinator]

AA Thread

hey! I see some friendly ol faces and just couldn't help but pop in and say howdy. I went to a really nice AA meeting today at noon. it was a discussion of step one from the study book.

I must say I'm stumped already on step one. groan!

they spoke of needing to bottom out for the alcoholic to begin their recovery. I thought that I'd bottomed out several times now....so frustrating! I'd like to think I'm AF to stay but i know how sneaky my damn brain is. maybe the combination of MWO, AA live meetings and good diet/exercise will be my magic combination.

love to all xxxxx

[Determinator]

AA Thread

hey! I see some friendly ol faces and just couldn't help but pop in and say howdy. I went to a really nice AA meeting today at noon. it was a discussion of step one from the study book.

I must say I'm stumped already on step one. groan!

they spoke of needing to bottom out for the alcoholic to begin their recovery. I thought that I'd bottomed out several times now....so frustrating! I'd like to think I'm AF to stay but i know how sneaky my damn brain is. maybe the combination of MWO, AA live meetings and good diet/exercise will be my magic combination.

love to all xxxxx

[Determinator]

AA Thread

website acting very strange! something's glitchy

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

hey det! good to see you!

everyone's "bottom" is different. i admitted i was powerless over alcohol because once i start drinking, i can't have just one. i don't feel like i am powerless in general, just over that damn thing, so i need support getting my strength to be sober. i get that support from the fellowship, the groups, the wisdom of my friends and my sponsor. i am an atheist, so the way i view my higher power is different than the way others see it (my sponsor included), but it doesn't matter...the higher power can be the fellowship that you find in aa.

that was a little more than just step one, sorry!

i have stumbled on every step. i think too much and analyze and try to figure it out...some things just are...i can see that now, and it's working for me. i don't have to find out why, i can just let things happen, and they seem to work out when i do that.

anyway...i finished up my fourth step today. it's cool the way my sponsor did it because we did it in increments and basically did step 5 with it everytime we met for step four. so we are reading step 5 in the 12x12 and just going over things to make sure we squeezed everything out of the 4th step we could (for now!). i have a feeling the 4th step is a lifelong prospect, and that's totally cool. being self aware is a good thing!

i have been exercising a lot since around x-mas and have lost 32 lbs so far, and i just read an article about how exercise is an important part of staving off depression and good for addiction recovery. i seriously think it's kind of the panacea, and should be touted as such. i even read that it is as effective , if not moreso, than anti-depressants. i have never taken them, but i have used exercise for that,a nd i can say, wothout a doubt, it works for me :H

well, take care all, i get to work at a chili/veggie hot dog feed tomorrow to raise money for the pet rescue i work for...it's a good time for a good cause and i am looking ofrward to feeling good while doing it.

peace!

[retteacher]

AA Thread

BG: I loved your post. Steps 4 & 5 are so important in regard to self-discovery. And yes, I do think the 12 steps will be a continuous process if we're going to grow as an individual.

Deter: I'm so glad you came here to share. Don't worry about confusion. Everyone's bottom is different. Mine was relatively high but others end up living on the street as a result of drinking. I wouldn't be sober today wo/AA (& MWO). The Big Book of AA calls alcoholism cunning, baffling, & powerful. I can never get complacent in my sobriety...as evidenced by my relapse of last year. Working the 12 steps w/a sponsor (see above Betty Girl's experience) has been essential for me in my recovery. I especially like your tag line "Know Thyself"...I got to know myself by working the steps.

Please don't hesitate to come back & share your experience...especially about meetings. We'll try to answer any questions you might have.

Mary

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

thanks mary

[Determinator]

AA Thread

Nicely done BettyGirl! thanks to you and Mary for the nice input. I'm off to an evening meeting in about an hour. I normally go at noon but had a hectic day and on the road again tomorrow so need to charge my batteries so to speak. i don't even know what step 4 is. d-oh! ok, off to look it up.
be well
xxx

[porqoui]

AA Thread

Hi Det...good to see you here!

Sounds to me like you were at a so called "step" meeting. You can always google AA to see the different types of meetings there are.

My home group is an "open discussion" (topic) meeting. Open meaning not everyone there is an alcoholic, could be spouses, children etc. otherwise it's a "closed" meeting, alocoholics only. They ask for 3 topics and if there is any new comers, step 1 is always put first.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol --- that our lives had become unmanageable.

I figured by walking in those doors I did my step one, and in part I had. But it was only a begining and I have often thought of going to a "step" meeting.

I hope you experience all the different meetings in your travels.

Wow BG...what a post! I have been "slacking off" with my meetings and you just renewed my commitment to AA. Thank you for that. :h

Mary...hope you're having a great time and getting to re-visit those AA meetings.

....PPQP

[bettygirl]

AA Thread

hey guys! det step 4 is "making a fearless and searching moral inventory"...basically checking yourself, and figuring out why you drink. step five is basically telling someone else about it. in my case, i told my sponsor, but it can be anyone you choose.

aa is pretty much a program, but you can work it however you need to, whatever works. we learn from the people who came before us and who "have what we want". in other words, the people with more time (maybe a sponsor or just people in meetings that speak to you) who have probably "worked the steps" share what works for them with the newer folks, and it is a basic program for living that works (if you let it). it's kind of cool because it is egalitarian (no one really "runs it"), and everyone is equal and there for the same reason, because they want to stop drinking. pretty damn cool when you think about it!

i didn;t know much about it when i got there, but i listened at meetings, and shared some until i felt comfortable enough to start the steps, and ask someone to be my sponsor...i think i could do it with just meetings, but i want to work the steps and learn all i can about how i can not ever drink again, and who doesn;t need support?

golly, i ramble! i sound like an AA promoter, and that isn;t really allowed, but because you asked about it, and seem to curious, i feel like it's ok to share about it. aa doesn't want to scare people away, so there isn't promotion. it's about attraction, not promotion....


anyway...g'nite all!