Before you have a spiritual awakening as a result of the Steps with your sponsor, it is important to attend lots of meetings. It cannot harm you at all but neither should it get in the way of other important commitments like your childcare responsibilities and the like.

A lot of people seem to think it is the fellowship and the meetings that get you sober and keep you sober. It is not. It is the 12 Step programme of recovery that does that.

I think that is probably what this girl was trying to say in a very unhelpful manner!

After we have recovered it is still important to attend meetings - not particularly for ourselves but to carry a message of depth and weight to the still-suffering alcoholic.

I'm not the AA type, but I think sooner or later you have to start living your life without the meetins, but that's just me.

It's great to use them as a "crutch" or another other mean as a crutch if it helps you figure out why you do what you do.

I understand 100% what you mean about having to go in the beginning, then should go and now wanting to go...that's me too. :)

What I don't understand about what this lady said is that who the hell is she to judge? Isn't that one of the things you're supposed to learn in the 12 steps? To not concern yourself with what others are doing & concentrate on your own program of recovery?

Who cares if someone goes to every meeting every day and is in that room every time the door opens if it keeps them sober and makes them happy. It's their life not hers....

Some people may not have family and may not have sober friends to speak of outside of AA, so if that makes them happy....good for them!

And yes, I am judging her....I haven't learned that aspect of recovery yet...I don't think I would be a fan of hers...hee hee...

What's pathetic to me is for her to say that and leave you, and maybe others, to question yourself and maybe feel like her discription...'a pathetic loser'. So what if someone goes that often, as long as one is staying sober. Like Gail said though, it's the 12 steps with a sponsor. There is where the program will be most benificial to us.

'Pathetic loser.'..that's extremely harsh. I'm pretty sure that if someone said that in the meetings I go to, someone else would have 'gently' said something to counteract her opinion of others.

DHG, go as often as you think you want or need to. Get that out of your head, please. If you work the steps with a sponsor, chances are you wont have to go to That many meetings, but if you want to...go for it. Maybe people who go to that many are lonely or something, or worse, without a sponsor to work through the steps.

Keep doing what you're doing, hun. You're doing it! and that's what counts. (o;

Hugs!!!!! to you, my friend!

rummy,

Could we change the subject for a moment and talk about golf? It has been proven that of all those who take up the game, only about 2% ever break 90. But does that reflect a flaw in the equipment, or is it owing to the average duffer's lack of commitment, perseverance and self-discipline? The simple, unvarnished truth is that golf equipment doesn't work. The whole promotional thingy is exaggerated to lure suckers into the game.
All those ads you see for fancy clubs and high-tech balls? That's brainwashing. All they really want is your money. All those sunny, manicured courses with lush fairways and velvet-smooth greens? Hogwash. Most people play on divot-ridden fairways and spiked-up greens, and they do it in rain, sleet, wind & hail.

So if you're not breaking 90, the main reason is you're probably not as serious about golf as you think you are. Those pros you see on TV (yes, even Woods & Mickelson, if you can believe it) work at their game every day. They drive, putt and chip hundreds of balls until the club in their hands feels like an extension of their minds. Through discipline and the lessons of failure, they learn to keep their heads down through the swing instead of letting anxious anticipation follow the flight of the ball. They learn to take both victory and disappointment in stride, and they take responsibility for their mistakes.

But I'm not even talking about the pros here. I'm only describing the 2% who break 90.

Here are 10 Steps in a Program that will help you improve your game:

http://www.golffitnesspro.com/

Now these are only suggestions. No one is coercing you or saying that you have to follow these if you want to quit slicing your stupid ball into the gulch and racking up those triple-digit scorecards. You might even have a local pro check out your stance, grip and swing. The fact is that golf needs suckers like you to keep the cult alive. We want you to break 90 so that others will fall for the scam. So get with the Program, will ya? Get out to that practice range today. The strokes you save won't just be your own. They'll make you a power of example to others.

Yours truly,

Nemorino

(Career low: 80, at Twin Lakes Golf Course, Chantilly, VA June 14, 1976, as witnessed & attested to by Willie the Con Creamer & Honest Paul Carmack, RIP)

Nemorino, that was brilliant!

DHG,

I know people who say they are sober and don't attend meetings; but they help other alcoholics alot.

I know people who say they are sober and attend lots of meetings and help other alcoholics.

I see a number of individuals come and go through the doors.

I go to meetings becuase I need a tangible reminder of what alcohol does to me. Sometimes I forget and think that I can drink like a normal person. By the grace of God I am sober today. God keeps me sober however, I believe he wants me to use the 12 steps and Alcoholics Anonymous as a tool. Some folks will attempt to make this things so difficult that it puts the program out of reach. It is not.

A person's program belongs to them and only them. It's between you and God.

What we & God decide is friggin good enough if it keeps us sober and content in our lives... and makes us available to be a better person for someone else. Anyone's staunch and negative views can wallow in their opinion on their own time.

I know you have heard:

"Your opinion of me is none of my business!"

A very true and healing statement!

Hey, I'm happy you are liking AA so much and it's working for you! For me, it has changed everything re drinking for the better. It blows my mind!

If I feel the need I stay in AA meetings or events all day long. I shouldn't have to explain that to any other alcoholic. I mean, they never questioned me while drinking if I stayed in the bar all day long.

And I forgot to add, show me where it states THAT in the Big Book, otherwise I'm not buying it and she should keep those opinions to herself.

Do I need 5-6 meetings a week nope. god has relieved me of the compulsion to drink. Do I want to be at 5-6 meetings a week You bet for several reasons. that is where my friends are. and I owe my life to the program and the people who were there when I walked through the door. I have a debt of gratitude that I will never be able to repay but I will work on it for the remainder of my life.
Nemo, You couldn't relate this information any sooner/ What am I going to do with all these putters and wedges and drivers and hybrids and woods and bags. Wait I did used to shoot in the 80s now if I could just get well and ree apply myself.

WOW!!! A whole year!!!! LMAOROF!!!! Speaking only of my experience, early on I felt that same way. Only by truely listening and desiring a better and different life did I learn that there were times when I needed more meetings due to my own character defects. Then there were times to practices these principles outside the rooms. One is not mutually exclusive of the other in my journey. The thing I find truely pathetic is name-calling, unkind thoughts and actions. I may as well be drunk as to have that kind of a "real life". I have to work hard at remembering there are as many different ways to recover as there are people recovering. Thank you for the reminder.

i LOVE the Lord of the Rings!!!!!!!!1111

100% in suport of the fellowship!!!11

LOL

there are so many big books..but only one is blue and "tells you how to live"...it is "the bible" ...i mean "the book for alkies"

LOL