when we are dealing with human beings we have some whose ego does more harm than good in the meetings. they will turn a discussion meeting into a speakers meeting and that is when i get pissed.otherwise, i ignore them. not worth my time or energy.

Meetings are supposed to be about sharing experience strength and hope. We offer suggestions and hope necomers make the right decisions. I agree that those who think they have all the answers, and those who don't listen are doomed, need a wake up call.

Hi linalg1,
I used to hate them too...
But then one day I heard this "Popping" sound!OMG!
Now I just love the heck out of em, and you know why?
Cause they make me go read my Big Book!
I have to go look up all their spew and make sure its right!
After doing that enough, after reading page after page...I finally heard that "pop" and today am happy, joyous, and freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. :)
Not only do I love them today, I also pray for them. I pray that their HP gives them strength and courage to continue helping the struggling and dying alcoholic, even while they kick him/her in the teeth.
SNAP!
Chatti

I've been chewed out by a few "gurus" since I've been in AA. It really hurt my feelings at first, but I've since realized that opinions are like _______ (fill in the blank)...and to not take it personally.

Most of the nasty "guru" folk that I've come across are just sour, unhappy, insufferable know-it-alls who feel the need to superimpose their will onto others because they are insecure with their own sobriety. If you live your sobriety, you won't have to shove it down peoples throats...they will naturally follow your example because you obviously have something they want.
I think as alcoholics, sitting in the rooms of AA, we are all equal. I don't care if you have 2 days or 25 years...we all just have today.

I agree with Chatti on this point. I used to think they were (&(99 heads too.... but, I also did what chatti did and i "checked " thre Big Book so i could ram it back down their throat.... guess what.. i couldn't! "I" was the one waaayyyy off base and possibly killing newcomers with my OPINIONS.. If i am in an AA meeting I will share my experience with my journey thru the BB to get to a peronala relationship with God....That didn't happen until ifollowed the "clear cut directions" in the Big Book...
botbotcoco

It seems to me that all that superiority is just masking for what they are not willing to admit that they are going through. Not everyone is going to be real all the time. I agree that there are no AA gurus. Not even the guys who founded AA admitted to having all the answers.

chatti, am i reading you right? i hope, to God,no because this helping the struggling and dying by kicking them in their teeth does not help a single one of us. 'cept you, i guess. this is absolutetly not what the big book ( and i suggest you read a book by DR.Bob's children and especially the part where he relapsed 6 months into the program and how Bill and Dr. Bob's wife fortified him with alcohol so he could take care of business at the hospital-an operation, i believe). we are not saints- remember that.i don't know who or what you are but you stand for nothing i care to achieve. in blunt terms, you are not a winner and, therefore, somewhat malignant. i sat at the table in akron,ohio, where the steps were started. no one preached " knocking an alcoholics teeth in" and , frankly, for those of us who have a history of family and societal violence do not care for your kind of sobriety- whatever that may be. devonh

Boy!!!! Am I with you on this. i have been sober for 27 years and I too hate AA gurus. The longer I'm sober the fewer answers I have - and that's how it is supposed to be. Those that have all of the answers are full of shit. We have no leaders in AA = all we have is the ability to share our experience, strength and hope - that's it. No one gets to make any rules in AA - absolutely no one. If for no other reason, reading the Big Book of AA is for self preservation from those who try to run other people's lives. If it isn't in the book - it isn't AA.

Please ignore the gurus - humility is something that most gurus have lost sight of.

Take care,

Lindajean

And one more thing - I am totally with you Devonandmaia. Kicking someone's teeth in is never going to create a strong love for AA - it usually makes them run for the door. I tried to get sober for 4 years - in a group called "The Pacific Group" in Los Angeles, that had the Guru of all Gurus - they used "tough love" - aka ridicule as a source of "help". I am now sober for 27 years - without the "help" of the Pacific Group.

for one, why does that reply button have to be at the top when the last thing you read is at the bottom. is that a murphys law thing?
anywho, linalg1, i seen theres a treatment plan just for you in the recommendations site, its called the liniar gurus..takes 3 days of dope to solve your problem with alcohol..makes sense to me...

thats what we do in AA, share our experience, strength and hope, we give ADVICE because we have been there, done that, I for one, would hate to see someone go thru what i have been thru'. i try to only suggest AA because thats all i know, and thats what is keeping ME sober.

And one more thing - I don't think God ever kicked anyone in the teeth.

Amen to that lindajean..amen to that

Here we go. This is only an opinion but one founded on some sort of fact. The people on this site who quote the Big Book and spout their ADVISE from the book have not read the book completely. For the Book says, does it not, that we are to SHARE OUR EXPERIENCE, STRENGTH, AND HOPE? I think it does unless the guru's of this site and I reading different Books. I do not give page numbers when quoting from the book. Makes people read the book to prove me a liar. So if we are to share OUR experience, strength, and hope, where is the experience, strenght, and hope of the guru's of AA. They have none because their sobriety rests completely in the Big Book. You can spot these creeps at any meeting. Look for the guy/gal carrying the Big Book to everymeeting they go to. The book contains papers sticking out to mark certain places in the book that they will make a point of talking about when they raise their hands. Stay away from them as they are dangerous. They never cry, never express any kind of feelings and if you go to give them a hug (especially if you are a man) they will run like hell for the door. Maybe if they decided to quit hiding they would actually help someone. A guru is a teacher, a wise teacher, not a smart teacher. As much as I understand what was written to me as to why they quote the book, it still shows no emotion. Awe heck. I said enough for now. Did mean to take up so much space.

i give page numbers, dont want to plagirise nothing...