AA Meetings

Another very nice tip!!!

One worth considering a lot.

Once you start with AA it becomes a quest for perfection, that in itself can become an addiction.

Oxygen is an addiction too. I've always said I am looking for the good addictions.

Haha that is a good response!

Good addictions with sensible and sane moderation.

Yes,
We must control all things. And, how do we do that? By giving it away to someone or something else.

I know in all my meetings, there was always coffee - lots and lots. Coffee is one of the most addictive things in the entire world, caffeine. We even now know that coffee, in moderation, is actually benefical.

And the question is - have I always shown moderation in all these "good" addictions? Uhhh, next question!

But, I can say I'm still clean and sober after all dem years! Twenty-seven today.....

I had my caffeine addiction many years ago and overdid it. I would binge drink it, some days 14 cups of coffee and then I would go weeks without it.

It did a number on me regardless much the same way alcohol did.

I would not drink for weeks than drink for days and end up on the couch for days recuperating.

Luckily when I quit alcohol the only withdrawal symptoms were drunk dreams.

I am fortunate in that sense. So I managed to accomplish a lot when I was sober and then my work would halt when I would drink.

I never drank when I worked and waited until my work was done before I would drink.

Luckily I quit caffeine before the emergence of energy drinks (which I have never drank one). I do drink decaf coffee at meetings and that does still have a lot of caffeine but it is a manageable amount and I only drink usually one cup.
I get a tightness in my throat if I drink regular coffee like someone is strangling me. Even chocolate I am cautious about eating.

I haven't had a real cup of coffee in over 20 years. That doesn't mean I didn't abuse it but it became necessary for me to quit or stop singing.

All of these side addictions need to be considered when it comes to living a healthy life.

Some people in AA introduce themselves with eating addictions too.

Sensible eating, low sugar and the only extreme thing for me now is not drinking alcohol.

So true! I have often said that recognition (Step 1) is the most important. Since we are intelligent, remembering animals. Once it is recognized - now, what are you going to do about it?

The last AA meeting took a very unpredictable change. The speaker started crying and talking about how he wanted to kill himself. Then others spoke up crying and admitted they were thinking the same thing.

Suddenly I realized how much I love these people...

I got my 4 month chip.

It can be interesting how a meeting turns. Along with the speaker, it works along with how the members are sharing. I've been at meetings where the speaker is great. Then the first two or three shares go into unknown and less than helpful territory. But, in the end, it's all good because it keeps me sober a few minutes and hopefully days and years more. If people share it, it means it's important to their sobriety and in turn that makes it important to mine.


Congrats on the 4 month mark. You're moving along nicely.

Meeting tonight, still keeping up the faith. I got a sponsor. One that will not try and dictate my life. I will not tell the others at AA who they are so they do not try and meddle in my affairs. AA is anonymous and even sponsors deserve that courtesy. My sponsor does not attend the same meetings that I do so I feel relieved now maybe the AA people at my meeting will finally stop hounding me to get a sponsor.

It am split between the notion that some people are trying to help and some people see it as a power trip. They are fine at telling others how to live but they do not seem to see their own weight problem or other issues.

For now I feel safe and I can maybe attend the meetings with hopefully less pressure from others. I am sure some will ask me how many meetings I am attending or if I want to take on more responsibility at the meeting. I really do not see my affairs as any of their business. I wish there was a more polite way to tell them to mind their own business.

Alcoholism is cunning and baffling, I want to be a part of things but I don't want people hounding me all the time. It is like leaving one prison for another. I refuse to shackle myself.

I will try and be nice regardless of their possible motives.

You're doing fine. Any day you're sober you're doing sobriety the way which works for you. That's one of the things about AA, there is no perfect way which'll work for everybody. Each of us finds our own personal prescription dosage. As the saying goes, "There's no wrong way to get sober!"

When it comes to questioners asking "how many meetings" you are going to the best response might be, "the amount I need to keep me sober, for right now." .

People in AA are similar to the folks you find everywhere. Some are nosey, some are full of "helpful" advice and some will just let you be yourself and reach out as you need to. Just keep moving along and keep doing what you're doing, because it seems to be working for you.

Thanks for your response Sturgis. I am finding out that, yes, there are nosey people in AA and they probably do not have their own priorities figured out, but they still belong. We all are a ragtag band of misfits with a few common goals, one to stay sober and two to grow along spiritual lines together.

If we were all saints we would not need this kind of meeting. We do not all share the exact same similarities but we share just enough to bond us tightly together.

It is easy to color the past with denial and forget the exact nature of alcoholism and this fellowship brings me back to the reality of the reason why I reached out and quit in the first place.

I see young people come in with terrible affliction and hanging on by a thread and I just want to cry and be thankful I got out when I did.

I want to be an example, but first I need to be sure my intentions are not self serving and that my head is in the right place to help.

I have learned too well to fool even myself...

Tomorrow will make 6 months in AA. I am still clear minded and focused on living a better life, "one day at a time". I am dieting also and having some luck getting off the extra lbs. I am able to focus on my goals and achieve them with a higher level of accuracy.

I am still experiencing a lot of back pain but that is something I have had all of my life. It sometimes makes me a bit short tempered and I am often unaware of it happening until after it has already done damage. I am too quick to swear too...

I do take an acetaminophen pill every few days to take off the edge of my pain and I do stretching exercises constantly along with the heating pad.

It is evident that covering up this physical pain was the purpose of my drinking but it is better facing this pain clean and sober as is with most other things in life that cause pain and strife.

I tripped and fell down L shaped stairs head first the other day and banged my head and both knees and twisted my thumb but I caught myself before I fell down the whole flight..

I seem to be a bag of bruises, I cut my arms cleaning up leaves around the shrubbery, about 20 long cuts, and did not even feel it happening. I look like I have been in a cat fight. Some pain just does not even register above my back pain. The cuts have healed but there is still a visual residue left from them.

Overall I am happy and trying to not let my pain ball me up and get me into trouble with others who are out simply looking for confrontation.

Writing out my frustrations are a way of venting my feelings and hopefully defusing them.

My life has gone from worse to better with a few minor hiccups and slip-ups along the way, but I have remained perfectly true to my total sobriety goal throughout.

I love you all and thanks for the support!

All of this, bruises and all, was good to read.

You seem to be wonderfully focused on your life and living it truly.

Enjoy spring!

Thanks EhBeth, tonight is another AA meeting. I receive my 6 month chip tonight.

Things really are good and my dieting is finally showing some results.

...about 15 lbs lost so far.

The beer was really making me fat.

That and reckless overeating. Quality not quantity.

You also, enjoy this lovely spring! Life is grand!

Good on you for the 6 months. Now on to the next 6 and so on down the road.

Yes, one day at a time on a never ending pursuit for sobriety.

I'm very happy for you and want to thank you for sharing this journey. It's wonderful how well you are doing and I'll bet you have been an inspiration for others who want to embark on a similar path to avoid/dump a habit that has held them back. In other words "Ya done good, Cobbler".

Ol' cobbler is a well grounded person, in general. I think he will do fine.

I think so too, my Mom would have called him a good egg. (I'm not sure about the egg reference, but Mom only called people she liked 'good eggs'.....it was a good thing)