Way to go. Hang on to it as long as you can. All the best. James

ask around about ICYPAA it international conference of young people in AA and there are plenty too....each state should have its own groups of YPAA
welcome to AA and try 90 meetings in 90 days....

Great job. Know we have all been in that seat very emotional and vulnerable. I am on the younger end too and I look at the many years of wisdom these people around the table can give me. We are all similar and understand.

Well great news. There IS a solution to the drink problem. I found that a group and new friends was crucial to my recovery. See I just didnt have some of the skills needed for staying sober. I had to be taught what to do and this all came from the rooms. Hang in there and soon the haze will clear and the good promises of life will start to show up. Key is to create a new normal.
1is2many

We are so proud of you for attending that meeting! I remember the first time I went to a meeting alone. I stayed in the parking lot for about 20 minutes, started my car up and went home. I did that about 3 or 4 times before I had enough courage to walk through the door which had a sign hanging on it that read, "AA meeting inside", which changed my life forever!

God Bless

Thanks guys for being so supportive and encouraging. I have been reading and listening to so many stories and its really incredible how the tbought process is quite similar in everyone. I just have to stick to it, i am going to another meeting tonight and I am hoping I will get my first sponsor. The other good news is I have a job interview today after losing my last job over the weekend. It just makes me believe in second chances and I know someone is looking out for me. I really cant wait to see what this new life will bring. I can't even imagine.

I will check out ICYPAA... Never heard of it before... but that was my biggest worry that i wouldn't be able to have fun without drinking and meeting sober people. I guess that worry was more common than I thought.

Your comment about people not being able to have fun made me think about the owner of the window shop I use to work in. We use to have a Christmas party every year at the local VF hall. The company would hire a band, and a caterer and we would bring our families for a great time with singing and dancing and door prizes and all the things that bring workers and their families closer together! There would also be lots of booze at these parties!. I specifically remember one year in which everyone was drunk and the owner would grab the wives of the workers, one at a time of course, dance with them on a table, after slipping them a $20! The women enjoyed getting drunk while taking the owner's money and having a great time! The owner would go crazy except that he was perfectly sober. He never drank a day in his life! The following monday, he would bragg to all the workers that he did not have to get drunk to have a good time. He was a great example for us all and we admired him for that!

That's what I see YOU doing in the future! Being an example for others to follow. There is no better way to give back! Always remember, it just takes one person to shine their light, and the rest will eventually follow!

God Bless

It took me awhile out of the haze to see myself having fun and enjoying life. I even asked my husband if I was still fun sober. Of course the answer is yes... someone once said at my meeting that AA is a place you go to find you smile again. For me it truly has been. Congrats on the job interview.

Thanks u guys!!! I am honestly probably a better version of myself its just hard but today is day #3 and my 2nd AA meeting... im sticking to my guns... i do believe I can be that light for someone one day too!!! :)

Nmmiller17,

Thank you for sharing the good report! It’s always so encouraging for me to see post like this. Just so you know, it is a huge step of faith that you’ve taken in order to overcome whatever you’re battling and struggling. It is the discipline and effort of these little steps that counts.

Yes, I remember going to AA meetings and I had a similar experience. But by grace, he lead to to the right people and those meeting and loving caring people allowed me to become sober and overcome some of these major addiction. I want to encourage as a testimony of many others on this page, there is hope! Keep up the good work

GLad to see you've found the rooms! Keep going and keep rediscovering how great life can be sober.

Trying... its a little bit harder than I thought... i relapsed this weekend :( i feel bad especially to walk into AA again....

Hello Nmmiiller17,

Many people who have long years of sobriety have had a difficult start but they persevered and eventually reaped the rewards. Do not despair or give up but instead, try to learn from the experience.

Some alcoholics do not relapse at all but many do and there is a reason for that. The key factor here is that an alcoholic suffers from an obsession for alcohol and until that obsession has been removed or to put it another way, the mind has been rewired, there will always be a risk of relapse.

You have gone to AA meetings and have found the meetings to be helpful. The people at those meetings will not judge you for having relapsed but will instead be delighted to welcome you back. My suggestion to you is to return to the meetings and share honestly about your recent experience.

Over the coming weeks, listen carefully to people who share at the meetings, especially other women. You can identify with what they say, from amusing stories to hard struggles, but I would advise you to disregard most of it. Beam in instead on ONE thing and one thing only. Listen out for those who share about steps and recovery, who have the type of sobriety you would like to have and who seem to be handling life’s ups and downs. After you have had a few weeks of listening, ask one of those ladies if she would become your sponsor.

The main purpose of a sponsor is to guide you through the steps. As such, a good sponsor can be someone who is sober for many years, but equally, she can be a lady who has just recently completed the steps herself and who is putting the programme into action. A sponsor can be someone with whom you share a common background or it can be someone that you have very little in common with. A sponsor can be a friend that you will meet up with for coffee but she can also be a lady that you only visit to talk about steps.

A child who starts to learn how to ride a bicycle will have a few painful falls but will keep getting back on the bike and trying again. Eventually, you will see them showing off by cycling with no hands on the handlebars. Learner drivers will be likely to damage their first car, their pride and joy, but they will get over the disappointment and keep driving. Alcoholics who relapse and learn from the experience will become sober (See the Step 9 Promises, Big Book, pages 83-84).

Are you a quitter who gives up after the first setback or are you one of the winners?

Your last reply reminds me of something my sponser use to share at many meetings. He said he was drunk at every meeting he attended for the first month of his recovery and when someone later asked why he bothered to attend meetings while drunk and his answer was always the same, "It was my turn to make the coffee!"

"Responsibility" was the first thing he learned as an AA member! So don't let that little slip, stop you from going to meetings! You need to forgive yourself for all the shame and guilt you are holding onto and let it go but keep going to meetings!

God Bless