I think AA meetings are a personal choice. Although statistics prove that those with the greatest success attend AA meetings and are active in the community. I have heard that \"90 in 90\" is most important-meaning attending 90 meetings in your first 90 days of recovery.

I think it depends on the meeting and the group of people attending it. It\'s a matter of take what you want and leave the rest. The 12 step program is really general, vs. focused just on addiction-it\'s more of a lifestyle change. I can\'t think of one person (even those without addictions) that wouldn\'t benefit from some of the suggestions.

There are AA oldies out there that push it and push it and drive it down your throat, and in my opinion, these people deter the younger crowd from wanting to go.

I personally do not attend meetings, although I have the material and believe in the info. I am also in therapy 1/week which is helping to work on why I used alcohol as a coping mechanism in the past.

Everyone\'s situation and opinion is different, I\'m sure.

i dont believe it i had a long post written and ive just lost it all aghhh \"easy does it\"

Well my name is Tracey and im a recovery alcoholic. ive been sober now just over 3 years.

I was just reading Kelly\'s post there and i agree meetings are a personal choice. but over the yrs i thought up every excuse in the book to try and get out of going, i even gave out about the old timers too that they were smothering me. That was true at all that was me running away from myself, if i was to find out what i was like as a person the AA programme was going to teach me that, and i did run away from that for yrs.

I was just 18 wen i was taken to my first AA meeting, id only been drinking less than a year and already i was in trouble. i didnt stick with AA then, it wasnt until i was 23 in 2001 did i end up there again and i said ended up there because even then i didnt want to go for me, i was going to keep my parents happy, of course i knew i needed to be going and that alcohol was destroying me but even then after 9mts sobriety i drank again.

october 2003 i found myself back in hospital and then on to a treatment centre where i learned about my disease and finally made a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of god as i understood him. I thought yes i do deserve a better life and AA gave me that second chance at life and i grabbed it with both hands because i knew alcohol was going to kill me if i didnt stop.

I found AA and opening up tough in the beginning but ive a brilliant sponsor who thought me to open and and not be afraid to accept who i was when i was drinking and made me realise today im not such a bad person.

Believe me ive tried to stay sober ON MY OWN without going to meetings and it never worked eventually i ended up drinking again no matter how headstrong i was about staying sober, the slips were upon me b4 i knew it, but thankgod since i went to treatment which was just a stepping stone to recovery for me ive kept going to regular meetings. I take what i want from a meeting and leave the rest, its usually the good stuff i remember and no one shoves aa down my throat everything is suggested, but its up to me to take the action, and thats what AA is a programme of action, until i started working the steps nothing changed for me, now i use them in my every day life, things have changed. When i came in to AA first i was a shy extremely quiet, overweight depressed girl, today im quiet the opposite. AA meetings medicine for my disease, they give me a daily reprieve, to sit and listen to other alcoholics and understand what they are going through is great because so many people out there dont understand alcoholics and ina meeting i was so relieved that other people could identify with me and i could identify with them. im still quiet young jut turned 29( ok im old hahha) and in the beginning i found aa hard because i thought my life was over.
Today i have a great life so much has changed i wouldnt have any of this only but for AA and the people who have helped me and frm the guidance of my higher power, i know there is definately someone out there looking after me because there were plenty of occasaions when i should have been wiped off this earth due to my drinking.
I am a very grateful alcoholic today.
ok thats all i will say i hope its helped someone in some way i better get ready for work now. if anyone wishes to contact my my email is hayestracey@eircom.net id be only too delighted to reply
take care have a good 24
Tracey (ireland)

AA was really helpful to me because of the support network it offered. I made some lifelong friends in the rooms and couldn\'t have made it through some days without them. At the beginning, I was also suffering from anxiety issues and my group was very supportive of my limitations. I came to think of that AA room as a \"safe place\". I was also just starting to recover from agoraphobia and some days I could just make it there, but didn\'t know if I could make it home by myself. My AA buddies, and sometimes people I had just met walked me home whenever I needed it.

In the rooms I learned about many of the reasons and triggers for my drinking and how to deal with them. I discovered that I medicated my anxiety with alcohol and I drank at social events because I was so uncomfortable just being me that I had to have a drink before talking to anyone. But in actuality, the alcohol only made things worse. In the rooms I learned to do the simple things in life that I just never picked up, like how to go to a party and just be, without drinking, and how to deal with my feelings instead of numbing them. I also learned about a lot of growing up that I had to do, and life lessons that I had to learn. I learned how to show up for commitments that I made, and how to talk to people when there was a conflict instead of just cutting them out of my life and running away. I couldn\'t have imagined how rich and full my life would become in recovery, it was definitely worth it!

Great message! I am able to relate so very much. Also it has been suggested that I write a book as well, haven\'t really started on it yet but someday I hope my story will bring encouragement and hope to others. Question, how do you deal with your anxiety today?

I feel the EXACT way you do! unfortunately it took me through 6 treatment centers in 4 states and about 10 yrs from my 1st AA mtg to finally get it. I have just over 6 months now, thanks to God, the 12 steps and AA! I just moved to a new area and am trying to establish a new support group here. The idea came, since I seem to move around so much, how about establish one through the internet, that way wherever I go I take my support group with me, and me with them. I have to get back to work, but my e-mail address is cgdiii@yahoo.com. Hopefully we can get to know eachother better and bounce stuff off eachother from time to time if that\'s okay with you? Hopefully hear from you in my inbox. Hope you have a great day! Take god with you! :-)

For me, AA meetings just did not work. For many reasons, but mostly because I cannot and will not conform to someone\'s ideal of how or what I SHOULD be doing. The little cliches made me sick to my stomach. The constant reading of the rules, traditions and such made my skin crawl. I also know that using guilt is not a great motivator for me. I found out quickly that there are people out there with a LOT more problems than I and they were eager to dump them on me, or anyone that would take them. I have enough of my own issues and just felt overwhelmed with the whole program. I like my private life private.

I am glad that AA works, and works well for some people, it just did not work for me. I\'m an outcast like that!

BE WELL.

JoAnn

In the Big Book,it says:upon therapy for the alcoholic,we have no monopoly;the AA program of recovery,as stated within the first 164 pages of the Big Book,stae how thousands of alcoholics have recovered;there are no absolutes;it also states that we have a common problem and we have A common solution;anyone tht says tht Alcoholic Anonymous works for all is a fool;it is merely one way;no way works of r all;it is merely suggestions and one path.i kow;i am a member

AA meetings saved my life. Now I go to help others. SImilar to these rooms the AA rooms are comforting and confidence building.

From the first day I walked in I knew I was not alone. I did not know exactly how many friends I had without judgement nor requirement.

If you want to keep it give it away.

i would love to be able to attend either AA or NA meetings, but i lost my license and can\'t attend either for now. in the five times i have been hospitalized recently, i have been able to attend meetings inside the facility, and i loved each and every one of them. having people around me who know what its like is a big plus with me, and having all the support. i really believe that\'s what i\'m going to have to have in my life in order to become drug and alcohol free.

Finding a meeting where you feel comfortable is probably the most important thing in the beginning. Know you don\'t have to say or do anything also helps people get through the door. Sometimes I lose patience with the other alcoholics in a meeting, but I remind myself that we\'re all getting better together -- and I assume that I am driving some of them crazy too...

I use to think I should write a book however; going to A.A. best thing I ever did .....convinced me that I am not unique; my stories are similar to everyone else and my book wouldn\'t be so interesting after all......

We are all great seller\'s in our minds but truly we are just alcoholic who are trying to stay alive by not taking a drink one day at a time....

Take care and instead of writting a book I read them.....the more I educate myself the better I deal with my addiction........

If you wrote a book what would the title be????

I was going to title my book
\"Graceful Underneath It All\"
Ha ha

writing a book, getting a job, getting her back having my dog love me again, now that was my dream, olny I had one thing I had to get over that dame love of liquor, if only it was like it used to be, well it s not and never well be so I juesss I will go to a meeting and listen to some one else problems. now that the ticket!

AA worked for me. I had one slip but then in just a couple months went back and have been sober ever since. I went to meetings for about 31/2 yrs. After that, I started going to church. Both offered me the support I needed at the time. I found that working the steps saved me. I came to know God as my higher power and surrendered it all to him. Even now, after 27 years of sobriety, I find that I have to continuously work the steps. They have become a way of life for me. Just take it one day at a time and you will make it

Good morning you wounderfull Alcoholics love each and every one of you! ok

You know, when I was first introduced to AA by my best friend (I had trashed her life while in a blackout on the telephone) I knew I was a fraud - Heck I didn't belong in there with all those crazy people. And they said..keep coming back. I heard my story in my second meeting and all of a sudden I could admit that I was an alcoholic. I learned that God stood for good orderly direction until I created and HP of my understanding. The sayings like Think, think, think meant think things through to their logical conclusion."If I don't pay the electricity they will cut it off". I thought the old timers were jerks until I realized that they had a peace and serenity while living live on life's terms that I didn't. So 90 meeting in 90 days instills a habit of going. I was told that I would attend a meeting that would save my live but...I didn't know which one it was so I attended many. Got a sponsor..she listened, suggested, didn't judge me,guided me and helped me to look at myself and quit casting the blame. Meetings, giving it up to a power greater than myself, working the steps, working with others..gave me a life instead of survival. Yeah I slipped after almost 10yrs. Went through 4 years of hell, lost everything except my ability to ask God for help and I was at a meeting that night 21 months ago. In my opinion and that of my family and friends who can stand me now - It Works, but only if you work it. I am a very grateful member of AA. I intend to die sober.