Addiction & Recovery
In reply to the discussion: I'm hoping this forum will help...because I could really use some. [View all]Rhiannon12866
(222,467 posts)I'm not religious, either, don't really get the whole "Higher Power" aspect, but AA has worked for me. "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking." That's it, nothing else is expected. I originally did, as was suggested, 90 meetings in 90 days. Some felt more comfortable than others and those are the ones I've stuck with. In a few days I'll have 33 months, something I never thought I could do. But, like you, I had more than one wake-up call.
I guess what's worked for me is "the power of the rooms." There's something about a group of people, all there for the same reason, that works like nothing else does. I never know when I'll hear something that I need to hear, that applies to me and/or is helpful. And it could come from the newest person in the room.
What really worked for me was One Day at a Time. Saying that you won't ever drink again is just too damn big and intimidating to deal with. I tried that, many times, and that includes medication from my doctor to help me get through withdrawl and a stint in detox. But I always went back, sooner or later. This time, I haven't, but it took me awhile to absorb enough to "get it." I may drink tomorrow, but I know that I can make it through today. Some of us need to break it down more than that in the beginning, an hour or even a minute. I went through that, too.
Also, I remember to "take what you want and leave the rest." If someone has a Higher Power that they call God, that's fine with me. Whatever works for them works for them. I've actually found a lot of people who share my feelings about this when the topic has come up.
The group that I went to tonight doesn't even close with the Serenity Prayer. We use the Responsibility Declaration at that one.
" I am responsible. When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there. And for that: I am responsible."
You'll only know by doing what works for you, but it really does work if you make the effort, I promise. My life isn't perfect now. I still get scared, discouraged and depressed. The difference is that I know that I don't have to drink over it.
I lost my mother in September. It's been awful. It was an accident. She spent three weeks in intensive care and then she died. It's stll so hard to accept. But people from AA were there for me, to talk or to be with me when I shouldn't have been alone. But the most important difference was me. I drove over an hour, each way, every day for those three weeks, to be with her in the hospital. There's no way that I could have done that if I was still drinking. So that's one thng that AA has given me.
Let us know how you're doing. We've been there and we care...