Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
I'm passing this along...
Argue not concerning God.
--Walt Whitman
Newcomer
It's obvious from what I hear people saying in meetings that God is a pretty important part of Twelve Step programs. What if I don't believe in God or a Higher Power?
Sponsor
We don't need religion in order to recover. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using our preferred addictive substance or behavior. To recover, we have to put down what we're addicted to, and we have to come to meetings. Not easy, perhaps, but simple and clear.
Whether or not we believe in God, Most of us recognize that we don't live entirely independently. The phrase "a power greater than ourselves," from Step Two, is a reminder to me that I don't run the universe. Whatever I believe about God's existence, I have to accept that I myself am not God - if I'm going to recover. I can't control my addiction on my own. Willpower stopped working for me some time ago; I owe this newfound willingness to recover to someone or something that isn't my intellect or will.
Those who reject traditional concepts of God can still point to something inside - what some call their "better self," their "sense of right and wrong," their "higher self," or their "spirit" - that got them here. The desire for wholeness has somehow proved stronger than the impulse toward self-destruction.
Today, I accept that I'm not all-powerful.
You are reading from the book:
If You Want What We Have by Joan Larkin
To sign up for Today's Gift, visit:
http://www.hazelden.org/register
Argue not concerning God.
--Walt Whitman
Newcomer
It's obvious from what I hear people saying in meetings that God is a pretty important part of Twelve Step programs. What if I don't believe in God or a Higher Power?
Sponsor
We don't need religion in order to recover. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using our preferred addictive substance or behavior. To recover, we have to put down what we're addicted to, and we have to come to meetings. Not easy, perhaps, but simple and clear.
Whether or not we believe in God, Most of us recognize that we don't live entirely independently. The phrase "a power greater than ourselves," from Step Two, is a reminder to me that I don't run the universe. Whatever I believe about God's existence, I have to accept that I myself am not God - if I'm going to recover. I can't control my addiction on my own. Willpower stopped working for me some time ago; I owe this newfound willingness to recover to someone or something that isn't my intellect or will.
Those who reject traditional concepts of God can still point to something inside - what some call their "better self," their "sense of right and wrong," their "higher self," or their "spirit" - that got them here. The desire for wholeness has somehow proved stronger than the impulse toward self-destruction.
Today, I accept that I'm not all-powerful.
You are reading from the book:
If You Want What We Have by Joan Larkin
To sign up for Today's Gift, visit:
http://www.hazelden.org/register
Decide not to drink and use drugs anymore, and then face life head on.Get support and journal a lot.
It works for me and thousands of others who dont have a god or higher power.
Life is humbling in itself when you dont run away from it.
There is no religion in AA - God represents a persons higher power and that can be found outside of any particular religion.
Those who refuse to be open minded to "a power greater than themselves" are missing out on something that is there for them but they are unwilling to recognize.
And I can guarantee that some of my old obsessions are just not there. They have vanished.