I first went to an Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step meeting 2 months ago. I was at the trough of my life cycle, having gone on a 3 month continuous bender after my wife left me for another man, and was ready to settle down a little and start to sew my life back together. Well, my Alcoholics Anonymous meeting worked wonders- just a couple of months and I’m cured, honest.
At alcoholics meetings, they will tell you that this is a lifetime addiction and that you are always in the process of recovering from the evils of drinking. I know. I’ve been through the Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program at least a few times already, which almost makes me an expert on it. Perhaps they should even hire me as a trainer one day. I think that Alcoholics Anonymous really does do a lot to help people – I mean they cured me – but this part of their philosophy is, if you will pardon the expression, a bunch of hokum.
I simply do not see the necessity of spending the rest of my life going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and the idea of never have a single drink again is outright ridiculous. I know people who do not drink. They are a bore. I am no teetotaler to spend my life away from whiskey. I love a drink, and thanks to two solid months of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, I think that I could handle one properly right now. But my Alcoholics Anonymous support group made me promise them that I would at least wait another month before committing what they described as “the biggest mistake of my life.”
I know that they mean good but gee whiz. These people take themselves just a little bit too seriously in my opinion. I mean, won’t I know better than anyone else, even better than Alcoholics Anonymous, when I am mature and responsible enough to have another drink and when I am not. I mean, it was me who came willingly to the meeting in the first place. I can take charge of my life.
There are many different reasons to why you would want to join the alcoholic anonymous. Some will join only to fulfill the court order that they were given. Yet there are a few people that join the alcoholic anonymous actually do this so that they are going to get better in the long run. These are the group of people that actually make it worth the while for everyone that is really trying to make a mends for the drinking problem that they have. It is just going to be a little disturbing to people that go to alcoholic anonymous trying to make their life better when there are people there that are not really trying to make their life better with any kind of effort because they really do not want to be there in the first place.
If you are able to come to believing that you are in trouble with all the drinking that you are doing because it is starting to have some negative effects to your family and friend then you are going to want to get in contact with the alcoholic anonymous groups that are in your area. That way there you are going to have a little support in what you are trying to accomplish with your drinking problem that you do have. If you choose not to get in contact with an alcoholic anonymous group in your area, you may end up having more trouble than with what you started with.
If you try to do it all yourself you may see that you are going to have a hard time getting it thru all the individual tasks that you are going to need to go thru so that you are going to kick the habit of drinking. You are going to need to know that the travel of coming clean from drinking you are going to be looking at a long hard trip a head of you and it will be even harder when you try to do it your self. That is where the alcoholic anonymous groups come into hand when you are in the need of help.
Ready To Get Clean With The Drinking Habit
If you are ready to get clean with the drinking habit that you have and you have already admitted that you have a drinking problem then you are ready to get in contact with the alcoholic anonymous group in your area. They are going to be there to help you out with everything that you are going thru when it comes to quitting one of the bad habits of drinking that you have, because you are going to need as much support as possible for the long road that you are going to be traveling.
My advice is, if you are going to Alcoholics Anonymous, do not try to convince them that you have reached the point that I have reached – the point where you are ready to start drinking responsibly. They are simply trained not to believe you for fear that people assume success too early. It is almost like brainwashing in a way. For many people, the Alcoholics Anonymous group ideal of never drinking again might work, but for me it is not necessary. I can’t do without alcohol.
This is a fellowship of people who try to stay sober and help others achieve sobriety, as well. Alcoholics Anonymous, or AA, was founded in 1935. Two alcoholics who were committed to stop drinking and felt like helping others with the same problem established this fellowship of men and women. Soon after 1935, there were many Alcoholics Anonymous established in different countries. According to the AA website which is there are more than 100,000 groups and 2 million members worldwide. These AA groups do not require membership fees as they are self funded by voluntary contributions. One thing which unites these people is the strong desire to overcome alcohol dependency and stay sober.
Many people who are alcohol dependent look for treatment on their own, others rely on their families while some seek help because it is required by the court or their employer. There are many victims of alcohol whose lives have been disrupted. In many inpatient treatment facilities even if the participant doesn’t want to take part in Alcoholics Anonymous he is obliged to. However, most frequently treatment will not work unless the alcoholic is committed to staying sober. Many people addicted to alcohol have tried to stop more than once before they decided to seek help. Alcoholics Anonymous is for all those people who want to stop drinking and live a sober life. The AA program includes twelve steps through which the alcoholics get over their addiction and confront the problems coming along their drinking.
AA meetings are held all around the world at places such as churches or private meetings facilities. What is really great about the program is that all members are encouraged to be open and share their experience with others, but they don’t have to do that unless they want to. Of course, it is much harder for the new members. They should begin the program by finding a sponsor, someone who would be always ready to help them when experiencing a weak moment or just need some encouragement. The main idea of the Alcoholics Anonymous program is that all members can only take it one day at a time and one drink at a time. Every recovering alcoholic knows that the motto “one drink is too many and a hundred aren’t enough” is completely true. That’s why these fellowships actually work, because members work together to reach their goal – sobriety. It makes no difference what your profession is, how much money you have, how old you are or where you live. That’s anonymous. Everything shared on these AA meetings is kept a secret between the members.
Recovery is hard but precious. If you are an alcoholic but get the proper support and have motivation, you do stand a good chance of remaining sober for the rest of your life. But you will have to change your lifestyle; you will have to learn to take one day at a time, one hour at a time, and one minute at a time. This is the only way you could fight it, the only way you can achieve your goal – sobriety. Alcoholics Anonymous has helped thousands of people willing to fights against alcoholism. For further information and more details about the program you can or give us a call at the local office of Alcoholics Anonymous.
A 12 part series written by a recovering alcoholic in an attempt to give a basic understanding of just what Alcoholics Anonymous is all about. Alcoholics Anonymous is not just a program on how to quit drinking, it is a way of life that teaches you how to live sober.
I would like to start off with stating that a drug is a drug, is a drug. Alcohol is a drug. Don’t think that A.A. is just for alcoholics and you can’t apply these steps if your addiction is Crack or Meth. The principles of Alcoholics Anonymous are for controlling your addictions weather they are alcohol, drugs, sex, pornography, gambling, etc… You will never be completely “cured” of your addictions, but similar to diabetes, you can control it and keep it from killing you.
So, what are the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and what do they mean?
Alcoholics Anonymous Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
The first 3 steps are the very foundation on which the A.A. program is based on. It is hard really, to say one step is more important than another. A general observation would be that the most important step is the one you are working on this moment, or the one you NEED to be working on.
That being said, Step 1 is just that, the first step. If you can not admit that you are powerless over alcohol, then you will still think that you can control it. If you think you can control it, you won’t ask for help or truly accept the help that is offered to you. Until you can truly accept that you are powerless over alcohol you will continue to battle your addiction on your own, thinking you just need to use more “will power”. And you will undoubtedly fail!
The second part of Step 1 really has to do with the first part. If your life has not become unmanageable, then how are you going to truly accept that you are powerless over alcohol? If you are managing your life just fine, then you are in control, not alcohol or drugs.
As a general rule, an alcoholic has to hit his “rock bottom”. Ultimately, this is his breaking point. This is the point where things get so bad that he basically feels he is left with two options. Surrender or die.
Unfortunately, sometimes the alcoholic will look at death as being a lot better choice than the life they know.
If the alcoholic chooses to surrender and admit he is powerless over alcohol and that his life has become unmanageable, then he can start laying the ground work towards recovery.
