I have been sober for 13 years now. I did not need and do not believe in AA. I'm not saying anything bad about them or you. Congrats to you and your friend for making a wise decision to give up the drinking. By the way, I was a seven night a week drunk for many many years.
MichaelD, the AA program urges its members to look to a "higher power." Not Jesus, not Muhammed and not Oaxatatl. The higher power is of your choice. Nowhere is it written that your "higher power" has to stem from a religion.
Your particular "higher power" may just be something within you that you haven't recognized before.
From what I have said you might think I have paticipated in AA. Well, you are right and it worked........for as long as I participated.
AA is not a cure, it is a lifestyle change. The strength and resistance you have to your particular poison depends on you maintaining that new lifestyle. If you fall away from it you will most likely start drinking again.
To each his own. I applaud Jemcam for doing something he knows he needs to do, however it gets done.
Good luck, Jemcam and I salute you as a vet.
Your particular "higher power" may just be something within you that you haven't recognized before.
From what I have said you might think I have paticipated in AA. Well, you are right and it worked........for as long as I participated.
AA is not a cure, it is a lifestyle change. The strength and resistance you have to your particular poison depends on you maintaining that new lifestyle. If you fall away from it you will most likely start drinking again.
To each his own. I applaud Jemcam for doing something he knows he needs to do, however it gets done.
Good luck, Jemcam and I salute you as a vet.
1sikbITCH
Diamond Member
- Jan 3, 2001
- 4,194
- 574
- 126
I was a hardcore addict for 20 years, used NA to clean up, been clean for over 5 years, and I'm quite positive there are no gods. NA and AA do advocate finding something that allows you to take your burdens off your shoulders, but that doesn't mean you have to get religion. I do also agree with someone in this thread who said that AA (or any 12 step program) people tend to be "co-dependent" on each other. But from their perspective, it's either that or death.
12 Step programs will give you the tools to clean up, fix yourself up, and then function in life and in society. They offer the tools that are most likely to help the most people. They are not for everyone, but have helped probably millions of people get clean and stay clean.
For me, I used the program to get clean, but never developed all the network and cult thing they have going. But I'm not going to knock it either. Those meetings saved my life (and marriage) too, and I'm grateful for it.
Edit- Good luck and keep coming back, OP (the whole reason I wanted to reply in the first place
)
12 Step programs will give you the tools to clean up, fix yourself up, and then function in life and in society. They offer the tools that are most likely to help the most people. They are not for everyone, but have helped probably millions of people get clean and stay clean.
For me, I used the program to get clean, but never developed all the network and cult thing they have going. But I'm not going to knock it either. Those meetings saved my life (and marriage) too, and I'm grateful for it.
Edit- Good luck and keep coming back, OP (the whole reason I wanted to reply in the first place
)
Nope, it's completely free. They did pass around a plate to pay for coffee and stuff, but that was voluntary, not everyone threw in a buck.
Originally posted by: MichaelD
It's too bad that AA is just another "Love Jesus" program in disguise, otherwise it would be a very worthwhile program.
They do good things. But with the wrong "twist." Jesus/God does NOT help you to stop drinking.
YOU help YOU to stop drinking. Period. End of story.
IMO, it's just replacing one brainwashing drug with another, equally potent brainwashing drug.
I've read the AA Bible/Manual or whatever they call it. It's another Jesus brainwashing in disguise.
Congrats on your honest effort to kick the bottle to the curb.
I know what you're saying, becauseI'm agnostic and I am not going to an AA meeting to get preached to. From what I saw last night, they aren't pushing the whole Jesus thing at all. My friend that inspired me to go is agnostic as well.
The whole "higher power" thing isn't anything to get hung up on. The way I see it, I can say a tree is a "higher power" than I am because I can't go and push that tree over without help of some kind.
shilala
Lifer
- Oct 5, 2004
- 11,437
- 1
- 76
Originally posted by: jemcam
Originally posted by: MichaelD
It's too bad that AA is just another "Love Jesus" program in disguise, otherwise it would be a very worthwhile program.
They do good things. But with the wrong "twist." Jesus/God does NOT help you to stop drinking.
YOU help YOU to stop drinking. Period. End of story.
IMO, it's just replacing one brainwashing drug with another, equally potent brainwashing drug.
I've read the AA Bible/Manual or whatever they call it. It's another Jesus brainwashing in disguise.
Congrats on your honest effort to kick the bottle to the curb.
I know what you're saying, becauseI'm agnostic and I am not going to an AA meeting to get preached to. From what I saw last night, they aren't pushing the whole Jesus thing at all. My friend that inspired me to go is agnostic as well.
The whole "higher power" thing isn't anything to get hung up on. The way I see it, I can say a tree is a "higher power" than I am because I can't go and push that tree over without help of some kind.
There are many folks in the program that aren't religious. I'm not at all religious.
God was described to me as Good Orderly Direction or a Group Of Drunks. After a year or so, God actually became God to me. The Big Guy. It came to me through my experiences, not because I had to get God or was forced to get God. I just found Him.
I still don't have religion and don't plan to get any at any time soon.
I can count on one hand the times I've heard the name Jesus at meetings, and I've been to well over 500 meetings, closer to 1000. (Just to point out that MichaelD is off base completely).
I'm glad you got a good grasp on that. If I'd have been forced to listen to religion when I got there I'd have run away screaming.
ThePresence
Elite Member
- Nov 19, 2001
- 27,727
- 16
- 81
Thanks for all the support everyone.
To those of you who had negative comments or made light of addiction, that's fine with me. I've been there and done that and I'm ready to move on with my life.
Like I responded to some folks who sent me PM's, It's really hard right now to imagine my life without alcohol, but it's a hell of a lot harder imagining the rest of my life with alcohol.
To those of you who had negative comments or made light of addiction, that's fine with me. I've been there and done that and I'm ready to move on with my life.
Like I responded to some folks who sent me PM's, It's really hard right now to imagine my life without alcohol, but it's a hell of a lot harder imagining the rest of my life with alcohol.
Don Vito Corleone
Elite
- Feb 10, 2000
- 30,029
- 67
- 91
Twofootputt
Senior member
- Jan 2, 2004
- 676
- 0
- 76
Sober since '86; Spent twenty years before that trying to control & enjoy my drinking. Could get one or the other, not both at the same time.
Somewhere it's written that AA doesn't require you to believe in anything, just believe in something. My first Higher power was the men in my home group who seemed to be able to not drink & not miss it.
Just figure out if you're really like the rest of us (Can't quit and be content), get a home group & a sponsor, then hang around for a while to see if you like the deal.
The only requirement for AA membership is a desire to stop drinking. No Jesus, no religion, sure some spiritual principles, but no one makes you do them. It's a program of attraction, not promotion.
Good luck, one day at a time.
StageLeft
No Lifer
- Sep 29, 2000
- 70,150
- 5
- 0
Good luck. It can be a nasty habit, and far more people drink more than they should. I know plenty of people who need to cut back on drinking - I myself have gone through periods of drinking too much (nothing cures boredom like beer!). I know it's tough though, but it's a good idea to go to AA if you need it :thumbsup:
Originally posted by: Argo
Damn, you just reminded me that I forgot to buy booze on my way back home
too bad you don't live close to me, I've got shitloads of liquor in my liquor cabinet. I'd give it all away. Liquor is not dangerous to me, that's why I have so much of it, I never drank the stuff, never cared for it. Full liquor bottles have been accumulating down there for years and years, and it's good stuff too. I always bought more than I needed for parties and I've got a lot of top shelf stuff. It's safe, trust me, I hate the shit, never have been a liquor drinker.
Beer and Pot is my poison. I had no beer, but I flushed about an oz. of skunky stuff this morning when I woke up. I hadn't smoked any for about 4 days, but I knew if it sat there, sooner or later I'd pull it out of it's hiding spot and I'd be stoned again and really disappointed in myself.
I went once with a friend of mine. He'd been to the hospital for over drinking twice in 3 months and the school told him he would have to go to AA or face broader disciplinary action. We went over to the AA meeting which was at the salvation army. One trip was enough to make him realize he didn't want to go back, and if that meant taking it easy on drinking so be it. Props to you for taking the initiative
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