Posted on 05/27/2010 1:23:54 PM PDT by zzeeman
Yea I see HE did it . OK
“I feel more sober than I ever have been in my life. “
My impression after reading your post is, you are growing.
Growth means change.
I hesitate to advise a person with your history of alcoholism to just abandon a system (AA) that has apparently worked for him.
However, is it always the case that an alcoholic has to go to 4 meetings a week, have a sponsor, etc., or is their normally a time when that ends?
The advice above that says “move” may or may not be practical. Certainly, if your life depends upon it, move, whether that is practical or not.
Is there perhaps an online AA type forum where you can get support that doesn’t involve politics, or that involves more conservative politics?
It seems to me that what you are doing is no longer working, because it is causing you a lot of anxiety and stress. That is not what a sponsor or an AA meeting is supposed to be about! It does not seem to be your fault.
My first reaction would be to wear conservative t-shirts to meetings and stuff, just to get in their face, but truly, that will probably not help your sobriety along. They are the ones breaking the rules about politics.
I also think your insight about the folks at your meeting ascribing to feel-good liberal statements instead of actual d0-good conservative action is correct. That is human nature. It is easier to salve your conscience talking about taking down the Man than it is to work hard and provide for your own.
Are there any AA FReepers who can sponsor zzeeman out there? If anyone reading this is a Friend of Bill, or, knows a good Friend of Bill who can step up, send him a private message!
The best AA meeting meets every sunday at about 11 all over the counrty.
“Yea I see HE did it . OK”
Alright, I’ll see your dripping sarcasm and raise you with a “What’s your point?”
Skip it , I’d be wasting my time
Hasn’t stopped you yet.
I enjoyed the story. My son has substance abuse problems and attends AA from time to time. My opinion is that FR is a good place to consort and converse with like minded persons, and strong doses of conservatism goes a long way toward keeping your focus on the right lifestyle. Immerse yourself in political activism and let that be your drug of choice. I also bet you will find a more like minded sponsor that way. Welcome and good luck with your journey, you are now on the right path.
Is there some method by which they determine discussion topics for the meetings? Can you suggest that there be set topics determined in advance? Talk about lawn care, healthy cooking, TV shows, laundry issues, how to change your oil... there must be a zillion topics that would avoid politics. I have been to one meeting only (Al-Anon), so I am not too knowledgeable about the protocols.
Good luck!
Don’t drink. Find another sponsor TODAY! It’s your life, the only thing God gave you that is really yours. Don’t waste it.
>>Yea I see HE did it . OK
All of us who’ve really done it did it for ourselves. There’s no other way. AA is a good place to start, but if you don’t fit in with dry drunks you need to move on eventually.
I’m so impressed with your courage. You need to forgive yourself for the mistakes you’ve made in the past. Seems like the mistakes have made you stronger and a better man.
As to AA, I’d suggest checking out local churches, if they have programs available. Get another sponsor.
I believe all people are doing the best they can with what they have, basically. My view of the “liberal” people are that they are either lazy, afraid, or beguiled by the lies. I have to accept people for what they are, and see the good in them. It’s so easy to see the bad. We’re all in this human experience together. Gotta love them anyway...
Don’t hate people because they are wrong. Just be aware of your own thoughts, actions and be prepared to step in a conversation, give voice to your views in a civil, kind manner, and don’t get angry.
Keep thinking, praying and doing the best you can.
Warmest Regards,
YR
bump for later
If you could have done it yourself you wouldn’t have had to come to AA in the first place.
If you really think you did it by yourself then you didn’t really get much from AA. Big Book tells you right off you can’t do it yourself , hence surrender to a higher power.
Good luck.
>>If you really think you did it by yourself
Change my words around on me? I don’t think so. The phrase is “for yourself” not “by yourself.” Try again.
My husband went to ONE AA meeting. He came home snerking, found a church and hasn’t had a drink in 25 years. Not everyone needs to be a member of a club. AA focuses on being an alcoholic. Hubby focused on being sober and being right with God. He’s no longer an alcoholic.
Gilbert Chesterton in Heretics tells us:
Those who wish, rightly or wrongly, to step out of all this, do definitely wish to step into a narrower world. They are dismayed and terrified by the largeness and variety of the family. Sarah wishes to find a world wholly consisting of private theatricals; George wishes to think the Trocadero a cosmos. I do not say, for a moment, that the flight to this narrower life may not be the right thing for the individual, any more than I say the same thing about flight into a monastery. But I do say that anything is bad and artificial which tends to make these people succumb to the strange delusion that they are stepping into a world which is actually larger and more varied than their own. The best way that a man could test his readiness to encounter the common variety of mankind would be to climb down a chimney into any house at random, and get on as well as possible with the people inside. And that is essentially what each one of us did on the day that he was born.
"...what each of us did the day that he was born." We can't pick our family members (or our ship mates in a life boat) and yet, as Christians (or others believeing in an Enduring Moral Order) we have to treat them in as our neighbor to be enobled ourselves.
Read Heretics. Learn that to be an Orthodox thinker is bold and not backward. Have Joy in yourself.
You don't need to straighten out others to share healthy thinking in general.
Happiness in not being "right" or making yourself or others happy but is instead a by product of right living. Russel Kirk said that the first priciple for conservatives is the belief in an Enduring Moral Order. That means such for man and for the nation. I doubt that AA believes in situational ethics. Try to concentrate on living your sober life in harmony with right living and the concepts of sober living you have been taught and forget about staightening out the rest of the world until you have your life back together.
Please vote with conviction but you have to realize that other people don't establish your confort level inside your own skin -- instead something within you is leaving that maleadjusted during these times when you are so frustrated with those you meet after being dropped down the chimney.
The best thing you could possibly do every morning and any time you feel you could use the support. Come here, too, and people will support you. In your locale you may be stuck with Nobama supporters, but if you stick to the topic of alcohol and general coping skills, it will make things easier in meetings. That's what I tell my kids for liberal professors. Are there online or email or by-phone sponsorships? You can Skype or chat with anyone practically anywhere. Maybe finding a sponsor, even a long-distance one, with whom you have more in common spiritually, ethically, politically and fundamentally would be a good idea. Good luck, welcome, and post anytime. You are among FRiends here.
And if there is an AA Group you can join it there as well.
But NJ is Heavy Liquor Lane. There is nothing wrong with removing yourself from a situation where you need to face daily temptation.
It isn’t an excuse, same reason you wouldn’t go to a bar and sit around watching others drink. You have a choice.
The Catholic Church has their drug and alcohol treatment center on a mountain in the middle of no where in New Mexico, same logic.
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