Those Dadgum Meetings!!

Going to a meeting....
I hear more people grumble about this particular part of recovery than any other.
They will make an attempt at working the steps...
They will read the Big Book.....
But when you ask them about going to meetings....they come unhinged and begin to recite the litany of reasons why the either can't or won't go.

1.) To many angry people trying to tell me what to do...
2.) I'm not like those people....
3.) I don't have time...I wish I did,but I don't.
4.) I don't need to go....
And on and on and on....
Here in lies the very core of why a person cannot retain their sobriety...They have taken control of their life and are calling the shots again.
Deciding what they are and are not going to do.

Meetings are not punishment.....they can be when you look at them with a negative mind set. Meetings are to be a place to connect with others who are either in the same situation you are, or have found this sobriety that has eluded you. A place where you can be honest and transparent. A friend of mine talks about his first A.A. meeting. He didn't want to go, but felt compelled. That little rebellious streak that comes with addiction told him to drink before he went to this meeting. He did....drank a whole bunch of beer. After a few moments of being at the meeting, the chairperson asked if there were any new comers. My friend stood up and said,"I'm a first timer and I drank a bunch of beer in order to get drunk before I came to this meeting." Thinking that making such a statement would get him ostracized by the group, he was surprised when everyone started clapping and telling him how glad they were that he came. Wasn't exactly the response he thought he'd get. 

Now let's put meetings into perspective when we add God to our recovery. When we actually work Steps #1,2 and 3.
Hebrews 10:23-25
"Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promis. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love (working a 12th step)and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His (Jesus) return is drawing near."

Sounds like wisdom to me.
So when is the best time to go to a meeting?
1.) When you want to.....
and
2.) When you don't want to....

God on you...
mbb