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35 years sober and I still need a meeting


ding

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Lots of meetings are now on Zoom, with the conference ID number posted where you'd normally look for a meeting schedule.  In my case, that's the Houston AA intergroup website.  Not quite the same as an in-person meeting, but the flipside is that we've had people attending that moved away years ago, and a lot of Winter Texans who went back home for the summer but still like to keep in touch with their winter groups here in Galveston.  With Zoom meetings, they can.

 

12/21/1988

 

Edited by impulse
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Hello.

Contact Arsenal Dave on FaceBook. He is an organiser of online meetings in London. They are having a lot of foreign people joining their meetings.

They will gladly accept your virtual chair.

Stay safe brother.

 

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1 hour ago, timendres said:

A good friend who has just passed 20 years sober, expressed the exact same feelings. 

Just curious - when you say "20 years sober", does that mean 20 years no alcohol, or just not drinking enough to get drunk?

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17 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Just curious - when you say "20 years sober", does that mean 20 years no alcohol, or just not drinking enough to get drunk?

"20 years sober" is AA idiom meaning 20 years of not having to drink alcohol, so choosing not to drink alcohol. None. Like not drinking bleach or Lysol, and for the same reason.

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11 minutes ago, alfalfa19 said:

since the virus,  i'm attending 1 or 2 NA meetings a day online, vs 1 or 2 a week in normal times.  i kind of like the online meetings better.  it's not that i'm antisocial, i like people very much.   i just don't like being around them.  In 9 days, I hope to have 29 years clean. 

Not sure what is a NA meeting, No Alcohol?? After 29 years without touching any alcohol, you now seem to be severely addicted to NA meetings!

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59 minutes ago, saakura said:

i do understand that alcoholism is a disease

That's always been a debatable point, even amongst AA members saakura.

 

Is taking drugs-/or drinking a disease or a life style choice?  if Alcoholism is a disease why can you not catch it. Why do some countries have this disease to a greater extent than elsewhere? (Belarus--Lithuania --Russia )or is it just the lifestyle in those countries.

 

AA is a great organization, I went to many meeting in Oz -Kiwi-UK (my girlfriend of many years was an alcoholic) There were many uplifting stories told by people who had turned their life around with AAs help.

I just had feeling that they looked down on drug Addicts.....(who had separate timed meetings.)  & most of the different venues I went to when someone was addicted to both, (not unusual) they were discouraged speaking about their Drug experience..........No we are not drug addicts here, ours is caused by a disease.

 

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11 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

That's always been a debatable point, even amongst AA members saakura.

 

Is taking drugs-/or drinking a disease or a life style choice?  if Alcoholism is a disease why can you not catch it. Why do some countries have this disease to a greater extent than elsewhere? (Belarus--Lithuania --Russia )or is it just the lifestyle in those countries.

 

AA is a great organization, I went to many meeting in Oz -Kiwi-UK (my girlfriend of many years was an alcoholic) There were many uplifting stories told by people who had turned their life around with AAs help.

I just had feeling that they looked down on drug Addicts.....(who had separate timed meetings.)  & most of the different venues I went to when someone was addicted to both, (not unusual) they were discouraged speaking about their Drug experience..........No we are not drug addicts here, ours is caused by a disease.

 

I have always felt that addiction was more to do with genetics. I have been on heavy painkillers for months, and after surgery stopped immediately with no withdrawal problems. When in the military and overseas I would drink almost daily with the guys and usually get pretty much wasted. However, I was always able to quit immediately upon return to the family without any problems. I have also dealt with others (including in-laws) that if they started to drink could not stop.  Most of the men in my family tree are military veterans with most having served in combat. Another reason I think it may be genetics is that none of them have ever had an alcohol, or drug problem that I am aware of.

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1 hour ago, jonnit said:

I have always felt that addiction was more to do with genetics. I have been on heavy painkillers for months, and after surgery stopped immediately with no withdrawal problems. When in the military and overseas I would drink almost daily with the guys and usually get pretty much wasted. However, I was always able to quit immediately upon return to the family without any problems. I have also dealt with others (including in-laws) that if they started to drink could not stop.  Most of the men in my family tree are military veterans with most having served in combat. Another reason I think it may be genetics is that none of them have ever had an alcohol, or drug problem that I am aware of.

Drinking in the Military when I was drinking, was a must do activity. Anyone who refrained was basically a marked man. Interestingly, I was never promoted after I gave up alcohol. In BAOR we had a hospital which had a permanent ward open for alcoholics.

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20 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Narcotics Anonymous.  Same program, same traditions and same 12 steps as AA, but geared toward people addicted to other substances.  The flavor and ambiance of the meeting is usually a little different, but the concepts are the same.

 

As for addiction to meetings, I've never come to laying in a pile of fire ants after going to too many meetings.  Besides, it helped to have something safe to do and great people to hang out with when the entire life I built around getting high or drunk no longer served me.  I don't go to meetings because I have to.  I go because I love them.  And the meeting before the meeting and the one after, where we hang out instead of going to bars.  That's with 31+ years.

 

well said

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On 5/3/2020 at 9:28 AM, chickenslegs said:

Sober since 1985.

 

You have my admiration, Ding. - your wife too.

My wife should be on the next issued Holy Card 

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5 hours ago, swissman53 said:

We have now more than 10 online meetings in Thailand as you can find on the AA homepage.

 

1981? I don't even remember 1981! Life is good.

I'm a bit nervous about logging on to an online meeting. Your welcome helped, thanks.

 

A friend from AA walked by 2 days ago and warned about ZOOM-bombing and FBI. She said they don't post ZOOM on the Intergroup website anymore.

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