AA Thread - August

[bettygirl]

AA Thread - August

egad! yes, I remember hiding from people at the door and avoiding phone calls...not me at all! I like people! al made me an emotional, physical, spiritual mess!!! let's keep moving forward, eh? :H

went to a good old home group meeting last night...it's the one where a bunch of guys from the local mission go, and it is awesome to see their growth! some of them are getting jobs and really starting to become who they want to be. it is inspiring to watch people with so little to give grow into people with so much wisdom to give. truly great guys whom I admire.


peace!

[retteacher]

AA Thread - August

BG: Isn't it amazing whom you meet in AA. In any given meeting, a very unlikely group will be assembled...anywhere from tattooed biker dudes to grandmas like me (& everything in between). I love it! Mary

[bettygirl]

AA Thread - August

it is fascinating, amazing, and democratic!
my sponsor and her husband are bikers...they are totally on the opposite side of the political "scale" (they are total right wingers) and our beliefs are totally different, and yet, we get along great! I love them like family.

[Solitaire]

AA Thread - August

Service in AA

Hello friends,
When I joined AA, I did not have another drink left in me, so, I prepared to go to any lengths to sober up. Someone said, "do service", so, I started washing the cups. One thing soon led to another, starting a mailing list for my area ( the 1st mail shot had 14 recipients, we are now almost 150!), I became GSR very early as not many folk are that involved...

Last week at our area meeting I was voted in as: Chairperson for CF and TF (Correctional and Treatment facilities).

As we know, there is no glory or glamour in doing service, but I want to share this with you:

I am invited to present AA as a service provider for all jails in South Africa! I am SO grateful!! Needless to say, I am taking an old-timer (or long-timer if you prefer) with me. Meeting is on Wednesday, please think of us?

I am also organizing a rally for our area... As I told my sponsor this afternoon, just the other day, I could not commit to meeting you for tea tomorrow... Now it is getting speakers, raffle prizes, souvenirs, venue, catering.... I feel honoured that I am trusted with this.

Service keeps me out of mischief, focused and sober!

Hugs from Sol xxx

[retteacher]

AA Thread - August

Sol: What an incredibly inspiring post & story you wrote! I too feel very privileged to do service. In January, I will turn my GSR position over to someone else & then take on another service position. We're only supposed to hold these positions for 2 years. I feel connected & appreciated. Thank you for sharing. Mary

[retteacher]

AA Thread - August

I really feel it when I don't go to an AA meeting. Those inspiring thoughts don't get activated. Last week I fell off my bike & really got bumped up. So, I've been trying to take it a little easier.

I think I'll read some AA literature. That usually helps. I don't have any drinking thoughts, but I feel that restless, irritable, discontent feeling that the BB talks about. I know I'll be fine, but for now, I'm somewhat down in the dumps.

I hope all is well w/all of you out there. Take care.

Mary

[bettygirl]

AA Thread - August

aww, mary, i'm sorry! hang in there...remember this is temporary. can you go to meetings at all? if not, come here, ill check in and CHAT WITH YOU IF YOU NEED TO...I DON;T KNOW HOW TO DO THE ACTUAL CHAT, BUT WE CAN GO BACK AND FORTH HERE oops! caps lock! :H

hope you feel better soon...we are almost at one year!!! :l


peace!

beth

[bettygirl]

AA Thread - August

ps
im going to a women only meeting later at the local serenity hall...kind of excited! ive never been to an all women's group before, and this one is new, so that ought to be interesting. ill come back and let you know how it was and maybe ill have some inspiring thoughts for you to chew on.

[retteacher]

AA Thread - August

BG: Thanks for your caring. I'll be fine...just bumped & bruised. I'm planning on going to a meeting tomorrow AM or PM. I tried chat a few times, but waiting while others are typing, then typing, then reading...it was all too much. That's one of the reasons I didn't like the AA web meetings. Typing, reading, responding, etc...didn't work for me. Face-to-face is my best bet. Hope the women's meeting went well. M

[Cinders]

AA Thread - August

Hello AAers,

Mary, so sorry about the accident. Sometimes these things happen to make us stop and think. I hope you feel better soon. Were you wearing a helmet? Just askin'

BG, I have an all women's meeting on Friday afternoons. It is the highlight of my week. If yours is a new meeting, give it time to settle down. There are many things women can discuss in a group that we would not want to share in a coed meeting.

I made a chocolate eclair cake for our monthly birthday meeting tonight. It needs to sit overnight so it will be good tomorrow night. I am waiting for the frosting to cool before I spread it on and go to bed.

I am a bit tired but will wait it out.

With only 5 months under my belt, I can only do so much give back. This is one of my contributions to my group. It should be a good meeting tomorrow night. I am excited about the speaker and there are quite a few birthdays. I hope the cake tastes good.

Love,
Cindi

[retteacher]

AA Thread - August

Cindi: It's so good to see you here. No, I wasn't wearing a helmet...usually do but it was extremely hot & we were on a bike path (excuses). I'm feeling better but am feeling my age. I would have sloughed this off much more quickly if I weren't a senior citizen.

I try to find a balance w/service to my group. I'm someone who doesn't know how to draw the line sometimes. I'm learning that. I've also heard that service positions should be rotated. This gives newcomers a chance to serve.

I'm going to a meeting tonight. I missed a meeting yesterday so really want to attend one today.

Mary

[Dave_]

AA Thread - August

To the AA's may I asked an honest but maybe uncomfortable question?

I have been sober for quite a while now and the battle to get dry was long, painful and very, very hard. For the couple of years I was in my limbo I was exposed to AA on a large number of occasions, firstly forced, while at a 28 day centre and then on an ad hoc voluntary basis.

The people there are true fighters but I have always been left with the overwhelming thought that most die hard proponents of AA have simply replaced the fervour and obsession of the bottle with an addiction to AA, to the point where people openly say they become more at risk if they don't go.

This has always kept me away from AA and I wonder if replacing one addiction for another truly addresses the core issues that drive people like us to drink.

[bettygirl]

AA Thread - August

mary hang in there! and please, wear a helmet! my uncle almost died in a slow bike accident on a bike path. not to be preachy, but helmets are so worth it, even if you sweat in them :h

cindi, how could an ?clair cake be bad, I ask you!!!! :H lucky group to get to enjoy that!


dave, I went into AA willingly and go to meetings about a day or two a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. you don't have to "do" anything or "be" anything in AA other than a person who says they are an AA member. you can do it however you want. I don't get really involved, I am an atheist, and I kind of just go to meetings...I do, however contribute at meetings, because I want my story to help someone else, if it can. I also share my birthdays, not for glory or anything, but to let the newer folks know that I did it, am doing it, and so can they.

frankly, I go to AA meetings because there isn't a viable alternative where I live. I would love to go to a support group that wasn't a spiritual program, but AA is what is available, and I "use what I need and leave the rest". as in any group, there are people who get REALLY into it and sort of obsessive, and others who meander in and out and do just fine as well. :welcome:


peace!

[bettygirl]

AA Thread - August

also, a fervent "addiction" to AA won't kill a person. part of recovery is learning when to say no and when to back off...some people might never learn that, and become obsessive, but I think most people have a healthy balance, unless they "need" the meetings, then so be it, if that keeps them from destroying their lives and their family's lives by drinking. some of the more fervent folks in AA are just that, fervent folks in AA, and we listen to them and move on when they are done sharing.

[retteacher]

AA Thread - August

Dave: There's nothing uncomfortable or inappropriate about your question at all. As I understand it: Have we replace one addiction (alcohol) for another (AA)? Maybe, but as BettyGirl said, there are as many different ways of going about AA as there are people. Yes, there are the fervent, intolerant types, but I haven't run into too many of them. Bill W. & Dr. Bob, the founders, really meant the program to be helpful & inclusive, thus the emphasis on a Higher Power, AS WE UNDERSTAND HIM/HER. There are almost no rules or leaders per se.

I came to MWO in 2007 but could not stay sober w/just this site. I needed face-to-face contact w/other alcoholics. I go to meetings almost every day, but mostly because I've now made many close friends in AA & love seeing them. I also like spirituality & appreciate a place where it's discussed regularly.

Please come here & share & ask. It's a welcome addition to an otherwise very positive thread.

Mary

PS: No excuses! I usually wear a helmet but wasn't. Thank God I didn't fall on my head.

PPS: I ALWAYS wear a life jacket when I go kayaking...& always put one on my dog, as he goes w/me in the kayak.