While it is not easy to leave the bottle, the fact is many people have indeed done so and gone on to reclaim their life from the jaws of misery. And, if they were successful, you would be so too.
Go to AA meetings
AA is Alcoholics Anonymous – a society or fellowship of former alcoholics who come together in the hope to remain strong and solve not only their own problems but also support others to abstain from drinking.
If you desire to attend an AA meeting, and don’t know how to start looking for an ‘AA meeting near me’, here’s what you can do.
You can use an AA meetings locator or AA meeting directory. They will help you find the local AA meetings. Here you can search by area – whether close to home or office, and visit the one most convenient for you.
An interesting aspect is the use of a sobriety calculator, which helps you to track your abstinence to the second.
Happenings
Most meetings are standardized. When you attend one, you will see it starting with a moment of silence to let everyone gather their thoughts. Then the Serenity Prayer is said, which is followed by the AA Preamble.
“Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.”
There is a lot of significance attached to the Preamble. This is because when it is read aloud, all the attendees understand why they are here in the first place and the expectations attached to their attendance.
Nobody attends these meetings to listen to lectures. The Preamble clearly states that the members must ‘share’ their experiences, which will help others to see their mistakes and draw encouragement from the others to leave drinking behind.
Sharing benefits everyone – on the one hand, it purges the speaker, and on the other, it helps the listener to gain strength from knowing that there are others too who have been through the same hell as they have.
Then, the Preamble is also like a mission statement which lists the goals and objectives of the meetings. Also, it states its own openness aloud. There is no discrimination in these meetings and it welcomes everyone warmly. The only stipulation is the person’s desire to quit drinking. Apart from that, there is nothing that bars anyone from becoming a part of AA.
Many recoveries thank AA for their present lives. It has enriched them in many ways with de-addiction as well as helping them forge strong friendships with fellow former alcoholics, which supports them to remain alcohol-free for the remainder of their life.
