"The moment 12th Step work forms a group, a discovery is made - that
most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group"

(Extract from page 9 "As Bill Sees it)

I went to my first AA meeting in 1994 after my doctor had suggested
that I might find such meetings helpful. I went to only one because I
took offence to something someone said to me afterwards and this led
me to decide to not have anything more to do "those people".

When I went to that meeting, I had previously sought help to quit
drinking for good from doctors, a councillor from our local alcohol
and drug rehabilitation service and a community psychiatric nurse.
When I turned my back on AA I decided that if I exercised my willpower
at all times that I desired a drink, then I'd be able to not drink
again. By doing this I was for several years able to not drink.
During those years, I did not appreciate that recovery from alcoholism
is not achieved while the minds of those who suffer from it remain
capable of allowing them to believe that it's OK for them to drink:

"The main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind
................) (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 23)

In 2002, I began to think that having not had a drink for almost 8
years, I had proved myself able to control my drinking and therefore
if I drank again I'd find it easy to stay in control of it. It did
not take me long to find out that that thinking was wrong thinking.

In June 2003, I again decided to quit drinking and to again seek help
to stay off booze. Within a few weeks, I became willing to go back to
AA meetings. When I discovered that the group I had left 10 years ago
was still going, I chose as my first meeting one of its. There I saw
people who had been at the meeting I had attended 10 years earlier.
From them and others I heard many recovery-related messages that gave
me hope that one day I could find myself with a life that alcohol
played no part in, that was infinitely better than the life I was used
to living. Now, I've been to that group's meetings almost every week
for over a year.

I do not know if it is true that "most individuals cannot recover
(from alcoholism) unless there is a group". However, I know that my
AA group has enabled me to make progress towards achieving this. Has
yours done the same for you ?

> I do not know if it is true that "most individuals cannot recover
> (from alcoholism) unless there is a group". However, I know that my
> AA group has enabled me to make progress towards achieving this. Has
> yours done the same for you ?

JB,

I have a lot of mixed feelings about meetings but they do help
me when I feel that "old feeling." I heard my first lead while a guest of
the county, so the ambience wasn't all warm and fuzzy. I hadn't really
thought about it like this until I was reading your post, but on further
thought I find that my feelings about meetings are still utilitarian.

When I first stopped drinking I went to a lot of meetings
because when I was at a meeting I wasn't at a bar. Now I go to my home
group meeting more or less to remind myself where it could go if I drank
again and I drop in on meetings when I am under stress or when for some
other reason I think that I might have the first one.

Meetings have not (or at least not yet, perhaps) had that
"coming home" feeling for me that I have heard some others describe.
Mostly, I just enjoy the freedom in all of the rest of my life that I have
from being liberated from drinking. The meetings, like working the steps
and reading the Big Book, are the tools available to me to keep that
freedom.

On balance, I spend a lot less time going to meetings, working
the steps and reading the BB than I spent drinking, and I own the rest of
the time for myself. I'm alive and awake and in possession of my faculties
instead of dulled out and hiding from the world. It's worth it and meetings
are part of the overhead, at least for me.

Dan

Sounds a bit like my story. I quit drinking in my early thirties and stayed
sober for 6 years. This was done with pure willpower. However, the pain of
my drinking days dimmed and I started drinking again. I recovered from my
bender and I now go to AA. It's difficult to say if AA is having any effect
on me. I feel as though I'm just exercising the same willpower as I did in
my previous sobriety. I suppose that going to meetings, I can let my
feelings out and listen to the experiences of others. I think I need to be
constantly reminded what alcoholism is about, and will hopefully prevent me
from relapsing.

--
J



JB wrote:
> "The moment 12th Step work forms a group, a discovery is made - that
> most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group"
>
> (Extract from page 9 "As Bill Sees it)
>
> I went to my first AA meeting in 1994 after my doctor had suggested
> that I might find such meetings helpful. I went to only one because I
> took offence to something someone said to me afterwards and this led
> me to decide to not have anything more to do "those people".
>
> When I went to that meeting, I had previously sought help to quit
> drinking for good from doctors, a councillor from our local alcohol
> and drug rehabilitation service and a community psychiatric nurse.
> When I turned my back on AA I decided that if I exercised my willpower
> at all times that I desired a drink, then I'd be able to not drink
> again. By doing this I was for several years able to not drink.
> During those years, I did not appreciate that recovery from alcoholism
> is not achieved while the minds of those who suffer from it remain
> capable of allowing them to believe that it's OK for them to drink:
>
> "The main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind
> ...............) (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 23)
>
> In 2002, I began to think that having not had a drink for almost 8
> years, I had proved myself able to control my drinking and therefore
> if I drank again I'd find it easy to stay in control of it. It did
> not take me long to find out that that thinking was wrong thinking.
>
> In June 2003, I again decided to quit drinking and to again seek help
> to stay off booze. Within a few weeks, I became willing to go back to
> AA meetings. When I discovered that the group I had left 10 years ago
> was still going, I chose as my first meeting one of its. There I saw
> people who had been at the meeting I had attended 10 years earlier.
> From them and others I heard many recovery-related messages that gave
> me hope that one day I could find myself with a life that alcohol
> played no part in, that was infinitely better than the life I was used
> to living. Now, I've been to that group's meetings almost every week
> for over a year.
>
> I do not know if it is true that "most individuals cannot recover
> (from alcoholism) unless there is a group". However, I know that my
> AA group has enabled me to make progress towards achieving this. Has
> yours done the same for you ?

"Dan McGown" <dmcgown@adelphia.net> wrote in message
news:mtWdnSp0v_Fp7u_cRVn-hg@adelphia.com...
>> I do not know if it is true that "most individuals cannot recover
>> (from alcoholism) unless there is a group". However, I know that my
>> AA group has enabled me to make progress towards achieving this. Has
>> yours done the same for you ?
>
> JB,
>
> I have a lot of mixed feelings about meetings but they do help
> me when I feel that "old feeling." I heard my first lead while a guest of
> the county, so the ambience wasn't all warm and fuzzy. I hadn't really
> thought about it like this until I was reading your post, but on further
> thought I find that my feelings about meetings are still utilitarian.
>
> When I first stopped drinking I went to a lot of meetings
> because when I was at a meeting I wasn't at a bar. Now I go to my home
> group meeting more or less to remind myself where it could go if I drank
> again and I drop in on meetings when I am under stress or when for some
> other reason I think that I might have the first one.
>
> Meetings have not (or at least not yet, perhaps) had that
> "coming home" feeling for me that I have heard some others describe.
> Mostly, I just enjoy the freedom in all of the rest of my life that I have
> from being liberated from drinking. The meetings, like working the steps
> and reading the Big Book, are the tools available to me to keep that
> freedom.
>
> On balance, I spend a lot less time going to meetings, working
> the steps and reading the BB than I spent drinking, and I own the rest of
> the time for myself. I'm alive and awake and in possession of my
> faculties instead of dulled out and hiding from the world. It's worth it
> and meetings are part of the overhead, at least for me.
>
> Dan

Yours is pretty much my m.o. too Dan. What's working most for me now is
keeping focused on what I can do now, and doing it, rather than looking back
or down.

-Fred

"J" <welshalky@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4172cbb0@news.greennet.net...
<snip>

>I feel as though I'm just exercising the same willpower as I did in
> my previous sobriety.
<snip>

> J
>
Hi J,

Even though I'm happy to accept AA teachings about what alcoholism is
and what can be done to recover from it, if I wanted to drink again, I
would. In AA I have heard nothing that has caused me to believe that
I no longer have the ability to make choices.

ATB

JB

Sure, I'm learning quite a bit about alcoholism from the meetings. It's good
to know I'm not alone, although there's not too many of use here in mid
Wales

--
J



JB wrote:
> "J" <welshalky@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:4172cbb0@news.greennet.net...
> <snip>
>
>> I feel as though I'm just exercising the same willpower as I did in
>> my previous sobriety.
> <snip>
>
>> J
>>
> Hi J,
>
> Even though I'm happy to accept AA teachings about what alcoholism is
> and what can be done to recover from it, if I wanted to drink again, I
> would. In AA I have heard nothing that has caused me to believe that
> I no longer have the ability to make choices.
>
> ATB
>
> JB

Cool, that'd be great. Thanks. You can send to my hotmail address.

--
J



JB wrote:
> "J" <welshalky@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:4172ef3d@news.greennet.net...
>> Sure, I'm learning quite a bit about alcoholism from the meetings.
>> It's good to know I'm not alone, although there's not too many of
>> use here in mid Wales
>>
>> --
>> J
>
> J,
>
> If you would like the addresses of some internet AA groups that I've
> first hand experience of, may I send them to you via a private email ?
>
> JB

"J" <welshalky@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4172ef3d@news.greennet.net...
> Sure, I'm learning quite a bit about alcoholism from the meetings.
It's good
> to know I'm not alone, although there's not too many of use here in
mid
> Wales
>
> --
> J

J,

If you would like the addresses of some internet AA groups that I've
first hand experience of, may I send them to you via a private email ?

JB

On 2004-10-17 05:26:12 -0500, "JB" <JBCatRB@coldman.com> said:

> "The moment 12th Step work forms a group, a discovery is made - that
> most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group"
>
> (Extract from page 9 "As Bill Sees it)
>
> I went to my first AA meeting in 1994 after my doctor had suggested
> that I might find such meetings helpful. I went to only one because I
> took offence to something someone said to me afterwards and this led
> me to decide to not have anything more to do "those people".
>
> When I went to that meeting, I had previously sought help to quit
> drinking for good from doctors, a councillor from our local alcohol
> and drug rehabilitation service and a community psychiatric nurse.
> When I turned my back on AA I decided that if I exercised my willpower
> at all times that I desired a drink, then I'd be able to not drink
> again. By doing this I was for several years able to not drink.
> During those years, I did not appreciate that recovery from alcoholism
> is not achieved while the minds of those who suffer from it remain
> capable of allowing them to believe that it's OK for them to drink:
>
> "The main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind
> ...............) (Alcoholics Anonymous, page 23)
>
> In 2002, I began to think that having not had a drink for almost 8
> years, I had proved myself able to control my drinking and therefore
> if I drank again I'd find it easy to stay in control of it. It did
> not take me long to find out that that thinking was wrong thinking.
>
> In June 2003, I again decided to quit drinking and to again seek help
> to stay off booze. Within a few weeks, I became willing to go back to
> AA meetings. When I discovered that the group I had left 10 years ago
> was still going, I chose as my first meeting one of its. There I saw
> people who had been at the meeting I had attended 10 years earlier.
> From them and others I heard many recovery-related messages that gave
> me hope that one day I could find myself with a life that alcohol
> played no part in, that was infinitely better than the life I was used
> to living. Now, I've been to that group's meetings almost every week
> for over a year.
>
> I do not know if it is true that "most individuals cannot recover
> (from alcoholism) unless there is a group". However, I know that my
> AA group has enabled me to make progress towards achieving this. Has
> yours done the same for you ?

JB- I attended my first AA mtg. in 1979. I attended a few and found
many reasons I needed to not like them. So I never went back. Besides,
I had stopped drinking and I just wouldn't drink again. And my plan
worked...for nine years. But after nine years and living a 'new' life
where no one knew my drinking history, I came to believe I could drink
again. Of course I believed it would be different this time; an
occasional glass of wine with dinner, a beer with friends...you know
the rest...it wasn't long at all before my life was the hell it had
been so many years before.

Thankfully my situation deteriorated to a point where I could no longer
exist without booze and I couldn't stop drinking on my own. Juggling
the few pieces of my life finally ended. It was then that I crawled
back to AA.

I know today that doing it 'Steve's way' will never work for me. Today
I go to meetings so I will never ever forget this.

-Steve

--
http://filmstripinternational.com/
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributor.../con04426.html













"[[]]" <[[]]@[[]].com> wrote in message
news:200410171815554127%@com...
:................. I attended my first AA mtg. in 1979. I attended a
few and found
: many reasons I needed to not like them. So I never went back.
Besides,
: I had stopped drinking and I just wouldn't drink again. And my
plan
: worked...for nine years. But after nine years and living a 'new'
life
: where no one knew my drinking history, I came to believe I could
drink
: again. Of course I believed it would be different this time; an
: occasional glass of wine with dinner, a beer with friends...you
know
: the rest...it wasn't long at all before my life was the hell it
had
: been so many years before.
:
: Thankfully my situation deteriorated to a point where I could no
longer
: exist without booze and I couldn't stop drinking on my own.
Juggling
: the few pieces of my life finally ended. It was then that I
crawled
: back to AA.
:
: I know today that doing it 'Steve's way' will never work for me.
Today
: I go to meetings so I will never ever forget this.
:
: -Steve
:
:
AMEN to that steve...................regular attendance at meetings,
and working with other alcoholics ODAAT has kept me sober and
serene for sometime now!

rosie