First AA Meeting

Well folks, it's been a tough little while for me. I've struggled with alcohol off and on for some years now, and I'm going to try calling it quits. First AA meeting is Thursday night, hoping to find some helpful tips and ways to cope. If you're the prayin' type, please keep me in mind. Hopefully mamma DID raise a quitter.

Hope it works out...
Prayers from Va...


Donnie

You can do it!

Get a big book, get a sponsor, go to meetings, meetings, meetings and pray for spiritual growth. Don't quit before the miracle happens.

Bryce

Prayers sent.

If you Believe, and truly want it bad enough, there is nothing that you cannot accomplish, with God's help.



Charlie

Go with an open mind...

Listen, I mean really listen...

I've never been to a meeting that I didn't hear something, I could use...

GOD - Good ORDERLY Direction

The only person who ever got YOU drunk was you!! The only person who can keep you sober is YOU with GOD'S help...

PS: if you slip, don't beat yourself up, we all did it...

Well, most of us...


Enjoy the journey...

Well ya just took the biggest step, accepting the "problem" and how to fix it. AA is good people, it helped me tremendously. Just tell it like it is when you feel comfortable talking to them, go to as many meetings as you can, doesn't cost ya thing but an hour of your time..it does work. Pm me if ya got any ? or just shoot the s..t..hang in there.

2X all of the above. We're all rooting and cheering for you.

cheerin and prayin for ya.

i promise whats on the other side is truly worth it.

I think a lot of people think you have some sort of character flaw if you need assistance with something; that couldn't be further from the truth.

I don't want to get sidetracked here, but there can be a real draw for alcohol in a way that many people don't expect.
There is an interesting concept out there that a large part of alcoholism is merely a carb addiction. Many of you may think this is a silly idea, but I challenge you; cut 90% of carbs out of your diet for a few days. About 8PM on day four you will get the almost uncontrollable urge to drive up to the store a grab a box of donuts. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself.

Stick in there DB, the results will be well worth it. Pullin for ya.

Great 1st Step. You are on the Road to Recovery. Praying for your Success!

I wish you the best have seen quite a few older guys that I liked alot drink thier self to death. Had a buddy go work up in ND and he said it seemed alot of folk up there are heavy drinkers.

AA has a great track record. If you've decided to quit you surely should succeed with their help.

Best of luck! (Even if luck has zero to do with it).

In my prayers. Believe in yourself and Gods grace and wisdom. I congratulate you on your courage and I know beside me you have much support.

Sobriety is awesome, life is much better without it!

There are several people I work with and greatly admire that are in recovery. I am not here to tell you it will be easy I am here to tell you it is worth it.

Sober for a very long time now. AA will help if you want it too. I still attend meetings from time to time depending on life situations, they will be there for a lifetime. Stand strong, know that you will never stand alone in this fight.



Owl

I have a friend that is sober for several years now. He did not mesh with the AA approach, so tried a church program with limited success. Finally he found a program through his job that worked for him. My point here is don't give up, you can find the help you need and get that monkey off your back!

Great to hear your giving AA a shot! Stay with it long enough and you will hear someone else share about every problem you believe only you have!!! You may end up hearing more suggestions then you are used to, but all they are is suggestions. The 12 steps offered in the program are the 12 butt savers and a great way to find God. Prayers are with you. Don't quit before the miracle happens!

Stay strong , we all want to hear how you are doing better , in a week , a month , a year and many years.

Do us proud. You know the Tman tribe has your back.

Every night make a list of things to do to keep you busy the next day, nothing fancy, just things that take time. Be patient, it takes time to start feeling "better", don't fall into the trap of I don't really feel that much better than when I was drinking, so why not drink. It will get better, much better. Go to as many AA meeting as you can fit in, they are never wasted time. Good luck on your journey!!!!!!!

Have faith in God, through him all things are possible. We will be praying for you and your success

You can do it, do stuff that is rewarding.
Also keeping positive company around you is a plus,
No one likes a debby downer right.
Best of luck to you, 12 years sober here.
I did it so anyone can do it.

Stick with it. Be prepared to change a lot of old habits. Probably Friends too. Start with the 12 steps. In order 1 thru 12. Don't rush it. Don't be too quick to pick a sponsor either. Listen Listen and Listen. I've never learned anything listening to myself talk. Find a meeting you like and make a commitment to it. It won't happen as fast as you'd like. You will need to learn how to deal with the old feelings Sober. Been sober since June of 1987 myself. A couple suggestions from an alcoholic named Mark. Best wishes.

Good luck and prayers sent. If I can do it, anyone can.

Praying. You will do it.

Life is so much better without booze. It will be worth it. Good luck to you.

Good for you. Take care and God bless. Prayers sent

^^^ what Bryce said
May God bless you

Hey man, congratulations. I celebrated one year sober on August 23rd. You can do it. I’m rooting for you

My Prayers DakotaBoy

Oh, and find a non-alcoholic drink that you like and keep lots of it around all the time. Helps with the physical habit of always having something to drink in your hand. Mine was unsweet tea. I probably went through a gallon and a half a day for a few weeks. Really helped me a bunch.

I don’t know how bad you were, but me, I was drinking at least an 18 pack a day, starting at 4am on the drive to work. By the time I got to the shop at 5 I’d be 4-5 beers in. Every day, I would wake up and first thing I would do is finish the half a beer left on my night stand from the night before. So if I can make it to a year, I’m pretty sure anyone can if they want it bad enough. It took getting fired from two jobs in less than a week and my wife nearly leaving me to get it through my thick skull that it was a problem. I was a good drunk. So good that my wife had no idea that I was drinking every minute of every day for months.

i will say a prayer for you, you got this, there nothing a person can't do once they put there mine to it

WTG Bob! Life is much better with alcohol in the rear view mirror!

If I can do it, so can you. This token is from four years ago. The one I get this time next year will have three X's on it.



It's your life, take it back.

Very inspiring Lugnut, thanks for sharing!

I will keep you in my prayers . I seen three close family members go to an early grave due to alcohol addiction Like someone mention earlier many see it as a character flaw .Not geting help if you ned it would or could be a characterr flaw .Doing the right thing for your self and you friends and family willl the best thong you ever do with the rest of your life .You can't change the rest of your life in one day . But you can decide how to make each day ome that is alchol free . Best wishes and even if you stumble along the way keep trying to accompish your goal each day

Congratulations for stepping up to the plate and facing your problem, you should be very proud of yourself. I know your family and friends are! I hope all goes well for you. Stay strong.

Sent with prayer. You pray and God will direct you.

Remember it's Alcoholics ANONYMOUS.

Anonymity is still in the "program". Not as valued nor important as it once was. Yet vital in survival and success for sobriety.

22 years for me

C.O.D. Change Or Die

Acknowledging you need help is the most important step, My brother never did and he drank himself into an early grave..wouldn't accept any help from anyone, well, he's cured now.
Hang in there...

Will be praying for you!

I went to about a dozen with the wife’s nephew. I got more out of it than he did. I think the program could help me loose weight.

I got 10 years sober now. People who knew me figured I would die drinking. But by the grace of God go I. I am afraid jack daniels stock holders lost money when I quit.

Mmmmmmm......JD

Well, I didn't start the program as soon as I'd planned, but did manage to receive my 6 month token last week. Things have been going pretty well actually - have stayed busy enough that I rarely have time to think about booze. Did have a hankerin' a couple of weeks back, but made it through without giving in. This winter might be tougher when outside work slows down...might need to hunt or fish more. Tell you one thing, there have been more fish in my boat this summer than any other years! I know I'm working harder for them not being worried about if I brought enough beer with!

That is interesting. I have nights i get home from work and really want one of three things: glass of vodka, a bowl of chips, or sometimes a glass of milk mixed with protein powder. Really any of them satisfy the urge.

I'm happy for you, stick with it and enjoy your new found life.

I have lost 3 uncles to alcohol , they were 31 , 32 and 61

31 and 32 were motorcycle and car accidents , they were the one intoxicated and caused the accident.

61 he was in and out of AA for decades he had been fat , he had the stomach staple surgery , got skinny then drank it back on , his wife was/is also an alcoholic and in and out of AA he drank him self into organ failure , he had a moment of clarity near the end in the hospital that he had drunk himself to death , then passed.

keep with it and be around for your family.

Hey man, you can do it. I went from 18 beers a day to zero and I don’t know if I could have without AA. I’ll be sober two years on august 23.

Go to every meeting you can. I went every day for a while. If you slip, don’t be ashamed to talk about it in the meetings because they all have been exactly where you are. They understand, and nobody is there to judge you. Good luck.

Hang tough, it can take awhile before you "feel better", but it will come!!!!

You'll come to understand what one day at a time means...

Good for you. I quit drinking almost 2 years ago.

I can promise you that life is better without booze. This includes life with the family. And, you are right about staying busy with the outdoors. My equipment has never been so organized and I get all kinds of things done at the farm now. I am hunting, trapping and fishing more too.

Good luck on your continued success!

Prayers sent.

Please keep us informed how the journey goes.

WS

Yesterday is a cancelled check, tomorrow is a promissory note, TODAY is cash and I will learn to live with cash or in the day. It is absolutely amazing how the future works out when I concentrate on taking care of today. It is funny how working with broken men and women who have "empathy" with and for you help one to become better then those with cynicism and sympathy. People who know how you feel and the path you have taken can give you the freedom you were seeking all along. Being a heavy drinker is a lot different then alcoholism and it is the ism that can really screw one up.

Bryce

Keep coming back, it works if you work it.

Give it time, it works. 9-9-84

You can do it.

I was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic years ago. I knew I had a problem when I was craving a Budweiser at eight o'clock in the morning. It frightened me. I decided not to have a beer that day. I did the same the next and the next and the next. Ten years went by before another beer touched my lips again. I don't drink at all today. I come from an alcoholic home and know firsthand what it can do to a family. Keep after it, you can beat it.

Spent the last 30 years dealing with people fighting with the same issues your having seen a lot of lives ruined in those years some got it together some did not, find a good sponsor and keep yourself very busy. Drop me a PM anytime but I will tell you what I think not what you might want to hear at the time. Good luck stay strong.

My dad couldn’t stop smoking and drinking heavily even after loosing a lung and many alcohol rehabs. Died at 64 with several cancers. Maybe it killed him.

I have not read through all the posts,So if this info is a repeat I apologize !

Things no one told me when I quit drinking
By Weston Frank
1. You Find out who your friends are. As cliché as it sounds, you will find that all the friends you thought you had, will seemingly disappear. Drinking is one of the biggest recreational activities for our area. Without being a member of that “club” you will find you won’t be invited or in some cases welcome in some of the circles you once hung around in. No one wants to even consider they may have an alcohol problem, especially individuals who actually have a problem. It’s almost as if they believe being around someone sober will make them sober as well, as if it’s a sickness to be caught. There is no doubt that choosing to be sober, will cost you a few relationships.
2. You will forever have to explain why you don’t drink. One of the most annoying things of choosing sobriety is forever explaining why you are sober. No one ever asks a meth addict why they chose to stop using. For some reason our society has decided that one drug is acceptable and one isn’t, even though they both ruin lives, and even kill people all the time. From now on, when you enter social situations that people are drinking, you will be offered a drink or two. When you decline, people will try to tell you, one won’t kill you... you can try to keep saying no thanks, but most the time you end having to explain that you quit drinking. Sometimes that’s a good enough answer and they’ll leave you be, other times they will pry and ask why. It’s up to you to decide if you want to tell them or not. I personally embrace my story. Tell them why I made my choice.
3. You will not do the same things you always did. It’s always good to stay away from the places and activities that you drank at during the first phase of getting sober. Eventually when things stabilize, you will be ok with visiting the old bar, going to a concert, or watching a football game with friends. Referring back to #1 you’ll find that doing some of those things will show you some of those friends you lost, and some of the experience will show you that the experience was more about the drinking than was about the friendship or activity.
4. There will be days you never think about drinking, there will be days you wonder why you ever quit.... you might even slip and try again.... it will always lead back to the same conclusion... the reasons for you to quit, far out weight the reasons to keep drinking.
5. It’s ok to screw up... seriously... you’re human, making mistakes happen. Don’t let anyone beat you up over messing up now and then. This is your decision and your life.
6. You find out who you friends are. Yes... again... just as you lose friends, you’ll find the ones that stick around are the real deal. You might even meet some new ones that turn out to be pretty fantastic too.
7. Your mind will never be clearer. Making the choice to quit drinking opens up a door in the mind. You will see things you never noticed before, about yourself and others. Some of this will tie into how your relationships are affected.
8. You will be accused of being an (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). Some will call it blunt, or crass. Really, it’s just you recognizing situations that are harder than they need to be, and looking at them with an extremely realistic view. Part of the reason some of us drink is to escape the reality and gravity of things in our lives. Taking that element away forces us to face a lot of things head on. It also forces us not to sugar coat it... IT IS WHAT IT IS...
9. Do sobriety your way. If you like AA or outpatient treatment, GREAT! If not, that’s ok too... just understand you will need to talk about your feelings and emotions to someone. You will need to figure out how to cope with everyday struggles. You DON’T have to do that alone. I personally don’t attend AA anymore. I think it works great for some folks, I enjoyed some of it, but not all of it. I found a lot of great audio books and podcasts of people like us just talking about the problems they face, and it helped, just to hear that we’re not alone.
10. Try new things. Boredom and self-loathing are a killer in sobriety. Sitting around feeling sorry for yourself gets you nowhere. Do something you’ve never done before. Me... I got into several things. Until I found a few that really hit home with me. I’m a 30-year-old man, and I love sewing baseball caps. I put vintage advertising patches on hats, and use big & old leather sewing machines to do it. I enjoy it very much, and I even make a couple bucks now and then. Find something to put your time and energy into. Find something that is all about making you happy.
11. You have to be selfish when it comes to you. Being sober is not all roses and rainbows. There is an adjustment period. Sobriety has to come before everything else in life. This might mean cutting some people out of your life who are just bad for your mental health and your sobriety.
12. It’s ok for others to drink. Do not become a self-righteous (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) who condemns all those that drink. One of my biggest struggles in sobriety was finding a middle ground with my wife. We both drank and partied. I had a problem, she didn’t. After you sober up your tolerance is very low for people who are inebriated. You have to find that middle ground, and understand your problems is not their problem. It’s up to them to decide if they should drink or not, not you. Fortunate for me, I have an extremely supportive wife, and we found an excellent middle ground.
13. CALL ME. Find someone you can call when things are tough... and just say... I’m having a pretty bad day... allow them to remind you what you’re working towards.
14. Never give up. You may stumble and fall, and it’s ok. As long as you get up again and walk the right direction. Life is a beautiful thing, don’t waste it..

When you are ready you will do it. If I can do it anyone can.

you got this!

2 yrs 3 months for me. Lots of wisdom above here.