Member: L-RAY
Location: SCOTLAND
Date: 30 Mar 2003
Time: 09:10:37
When i first met the guy who twelve step:d me - he asked me "did i have a problem with drink" i said yes! he then asked if i"wanted to do something about it " i said yes!and " did i want to go to a meeting" i said yes! he then said i qualify for membership! that was a few years ago--- but i know now i had the desire to stop! regards L-RAY
Member: Kim V
Location: kvaughn@madison.main.nc.us
Date: 30 Mar 2003
Time: 09:53:34
Kim V here alcoholic. Thank God the only reqirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking or I never would have made it in the AA fellowsip.
Member: Biker Babe
Location: hellishelping
Date: 30 Mar 2003
Time: 12:55:39
When i first met the guy who 13th step:d me.... oh .... well... (F%#k it!)) i'm not required to "not talk" about 13th stepping after all. So anyhow: when i came to aa i wanted to get sober, but i was very horny, so i also wanted to get laid. so that's exactly what i did, with the first other horny dude that i bumped into. well it was some of the best sex i ever had. of course he moved on to the other available new hornies in a hurry and carried on that way until he finally married one. (WOW) yikes. guess i really did get "lucky" if you know what i mean cause it wasn't me he married! ha! lol and a brand new ride. Biker babe
Member: Sarah
Location: NW USA
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 13:18:19
Hi, my name is Sarah and I am a recovering alcoholic, a member of Alcoholic Anonymous. This tradition ... not a requirement of people, places and things ... but a 'spiritual requirement' of one alcoholic sharing with another alcoholic ... "Do you have a desire to stop drinking?", "There is a solution.", "We are here to share our Experience, Strength and Hope so We can stay sober today". Thanks, one and all for sharing you Experience, Strength and Hope.
Member: Kim D.
Location: Bridgewater
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 15:12:49
Hi. My name is Kim and I am an alcoholic. I was reading in the book "Spirituality of Imperfection" last night that the original AA group founded by Bill W. had the word HONEST in there - An HONEST desire to stop drinking - but later dropped the word because what alcoholic just sobering up could HONESTLY say they wanted to stop drinking. Heck - most if not all want the pain to stop but stop drinking??? I, for one, am thankful that the only requirement for membership is the DESIRE to stop drinking, or I wouldn't be sober today. Why? Because when I got sober I didn't really want to - I just wanted the pain and trouble to go away. Then came the relapses until I surrended to this disease and started working the program of AA. God bless this program and all of you for being here.
Member: Patrick S
Location: Vanvouver,Wa
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 17:52:20
I have the desire to stop. I realise now that I can't do it on my own. But I also have a fear of talking to people. I have been drinking since the age 11, I am now 35. Does anyone have suggestions? email: pbschild@hotmail.com
Member: Jade
Location: Maine
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 18:39:16
I have a desire to stop drinking. And I am scared that i will lose my marriage if i don't stick this out...
Member: Norman C
Location: Reading, PA
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 19:48:40
I'm glad it is so easy to become a member. Staying in AA is the way to stay alive!
Member: Lisa L
Location: Pennsylvania
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 20:05:17
Every morning I say confidently that this is my last day to drink! Sometimes I can make it for 1, 2, 3, even 7 days without alcohol. I always think I can do it on my own. When 5 pm hits (the approximate time of my abuse), I find some rationalization to not me sober! I do want to stop and want help!
Member: Pete S
Location: Maryland
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 22:33:30
ahva a desire to stop drinking? Do something about it. Call AA, their number is in the book. Give yourself the OK not to drink for an hour or so, when time is nearly up, give yourself persmission for another hour. Also, try asking your higher power, or God for help. When you get in touch with AA and tthey tell you where the meting is. Go. Don't be afraid, or embarassed. You'll be surprised at the support you'll get. Most of all get the wod never out of your vocabulary. It's easy not to drink for an hour. It's damned near impossible to do it never again. When I first came into the program, I did it hour by hour, then day by day. I don't know what will happen tomorrow, but I do know, that with the help of my higher power, my sponsor, the fellowship and my family the odds are good that I will be sober.
Member: Victor
Location: NYC
Date: 31 Mar 2003
Time: 23:34:22
Victor, alcholic. I know alot of people who should stop drinking and maybe never will because they don't want to, for any reason, even for a day. I think you really need to want to stop, even if only for a little while, for whatever reason, to do so. I sobered up enough while getting ready for my 'rematch' that my life got better, I felt better and I wanted to stay. I know another guy that was remanded to meetings by the court. He wanted to keep his license and subsequnetly his job. But that was enough to give him some time away from that hell and he's been sober for years ever since. So maybe the key is to find a tangible goal and hang on to that goal and hopefully it'll be long enough to the goal for the miracle to happen. It worked for me and many others I've known. Thanks for listening
Member: AnilG
Location: MtVernon,IL
Date: 01 Apr 2003
Time: 09:30:01
I am an alcoholic i like the steps and traditions of alcohol annoanymous out of this the one that is most attractive is the membership and its desire to stop drinking. It dont cost nothing we learn from others srength. experiance and hope. thanks to aa and alanon.
Member: SuzyQ
Location: NJ
Date: 01 Apr 2003
Time: 17:30:33
Not sure weather you want to stop drinking or not? You can still attend a meeting or two until you are sure. It says 'requirment for membership'. If you attend some meetings and decide that you do want to stop drinking, just let someone know your along for the ride. We don't need your full name, you don't have to tell us all about yourself if you don't want to, you don't have to speak at meetings, you can just listen if you like, hell you don't even have to stay if you decide you want to drink again. We will be here though just in case. SuzyQ
Member: TB
Location: Salamanca, Spain
Date: 02 Apr 2003
Time: 05:10:34
I came into AA when I was 18 and this was my "weapon" against all the other AA«s around. Being hurt, fearful, mistrusting and all of the above of these people but knowing that I had to have, and wanted, what they had. And here it was, my loophole (Ha, loophole in AA) noone could kick me out. Over my time abroad this tradition has helped me on a daily basis to remind myself of my membership qualifications and to help me remember to keep my ego left at the door (I do like too when I forget to pick it up). I do love this tradition. As everything in AA seems to be, it has been a lifesaver.
Member: Rivner
Location: Santa Fe, NM
Date: 02 Apr 2003
Time: 08:55:09
Howdy. Rivner-alcoholic, This is to Patrick (desire to stop and uncomfortable talking with others). You'r actually in a good place I think. Many (if not most) of us would suggest that just listening at meetings is a good thing to be doing early on. Funny how the thought of opening the door is always more frightening than what's ever behind it. Getting to a meeting early helps. Then you get to watch everyone else walk in rather than the other way around. If someone asks you to read any of the opening literature, just say, "no thanks; I'm real new and a little nervous." They'll let you be. If they ask newcomers to introduce themselves, don't. If they call on you to share, just say, "I'm here investigating if this is where I belong and need to listen". Again they will let you be. At the end of the meeting someone will probably approach and greet you and give you their phone #. Maybe follow up with this person over coffee and take their guidance as you feel comfortable. After a few of these meetings (same behaviors suggested) you'ss gradually feel less shy and your ease will take a life of it's own and the familiarity of the meeting environment will feel pretty comfortable. Just take this one step and the rest of your feet will know where to go. God's Speed.
Member: Rick S
Location: Upper MI
Date: 02 Apr 2003
Time: 10:03:51
Rick S alcoholic here I can relate to your uncomfortable part I am the same way I am a private person and have found that I listen more than talk at a meeting but I can tell you one thing that worked for me. Participating in these forums and the online AA has been a plus nothing is more anonomous than this and it is here 24/7 with some real fine people. Myself I can't always get to a meeting becuase of my prior driving record and living in a rural small town area with very little public transportation but I can get here anytime I want to. HaVING THE DESIRE TO STOP DRINKING HAS GROWN suprisingly stronger for me once I found a program that works for me and that I am comfortable with> My biggest problems when starting out and going in and out of the program yrs ago was not having total acceptance of step one and I believe that goes hand in hand (for myself)with the desire to stop....I can now say that I have a stronger desire to stop than I do to drink. Looking at how much my life has improved and how well I feel physically and emotionally ..well thanks for listening and being here
Member: AZbill
Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona
Date: 02 Apr 2003
Time: 20:18:13
Hi. Bill here, Alcoholic. I also have served four years plus on P&A panels at Area. We generally would only use two criterion to decide the vote. (1) Does it break any tradition? No.(2) Is it reinventing the wheel? No. Then give it to them. That is how important the traditions are to me and to A.A. as a whole. I thought long and hard on this topic and decided that the long form of Tradition 3 says it much better than I. 3.- Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend on money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provide that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. Awesome eh? Thanks for being a part of my sobriety today, Bill: az-bill@mindspring.com
Member: Marsha L
Location: Michigan
Date: 03 Apr 2003
Time: 08:19:33
Hi Rick I am like you in that I needed be private with this. Going to an AA meeting to me is scary. But the desire to stay sober is becoming such a driving force that I can feel it physically.
Member: Rick S
Location: U P
Date: 03 Apr 2003
Time: 17:07:12
Once you go to a meeting or two it becomes alot easier if you do not like one meeting or aren't comforable with a member or members or whatever go to another and another till you find one that works. As I said there is nothing wrong with working right here :)
Member: Bill T.
Location: North Wales PA
Date: 05 Apr 2003
Time: 10:10:11
My name is Bill and I'm an alcoholic. Wow! Lots of powerful shares so far! When I was new in the program, Tradition Meetings were not so attractive to me. But as I grew in the program I began to realize that the Traditions were taking care of me. Then it dawned on me, in gratitude, I had to take care of the Traditions - be responsible to, and for, them. I like what Kim shared. In the Big Book (p.xiv in the Third Edition} it speaks of an "honest desire". I'm sure glad that those early drunks recognized that some of us had just an "ambiguous" desire at best. That was just enough to become a member of AA. The hard part is to continue to "be" a member. That's where the rest of the program: Steps, Traditions, Sponsorship, Sharing {Yeah, Patrick, intimacy -into me see - is critical to letting the program's health into our lives}, Fellowship {Yeah, Patrick, some day your shared experience will save somebody else's life} come into play. One doesn't become a member of something and then refuse to enjoy the privileges of membership. In my case, a new, and better, sober life. Thanks for the membership.
Member: Mike H
Location: Jackson, MI
Date: 05 Apr 2003
Time: 13:59:21
Without this tradition I would not be alive today. Although over the years I have played the 'revolving door syndrome' I have always been welcomed back. After many relapses and serious illnesses caused by alcohol I am back working harder than ever. Thank you all for the help and support.
Member: laura k
Location: nyc
Date: 05 Apr 2003
Time: 14:13:19
my name is laura and i am an alcoholic. "the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking" is a really amazing statement. to me it means that aa is inclusive in emphasizing that this is the one experience that unites us all regardless of the details in our stories. that desire to stop enables every to consider taking step one of our simple program.
Member: Larry M.
Location: Texas, USA
Date: 05 Apr 2003
Time: 15:34:47
Hello-my name is Larry and I'm an alcoholic, sober today by the grace of God and the miracle of Alcoholics Anonymous. I feel priveleged to be a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and now to know that I have only a daily reprieve ,as we say in AA, contingent on daily action in this wonderful fellowship. My qualification for membership was that I was a failure in all areas of life, as a son, brother, husband, father and bankrupt financially. Thank God for Tradition 3, as I had no place to go and not only was I accepted by you with a love that I could not understand at first, but you told me that I was helping you stay sober by listening to your story of recovery. That made me feel a part of it. I've enjoyed this meeting, there was so much shared that could be used in sobriety. I like to remember that staying sober, consistent attendance at AA meetings,sponsorship AND TOTAL INVOLVEMENT in AA When we are ready is the answer, if we want what others in AA have found. The key is-DONT LEAVE AA BEFORE THE MIRACLE OCCURS! One day, we too, have the happiness, freedom and joy that we saw in others. We get hope first, then when we take action, suggested by a sponsor, someone we trust, many of us find that that turns into faith in a higher power that I now choose to call God. I've learned that if we don't have faith in God, no explanation is adequate, but if we do have faith no expanation is necessary. The important thing is action. One of my prayers today, is God, treat me tomorrow like I've treated everyone today. When you allow me to share it helps me keep what I have. Thank you and Thank God it works.
Member: Marsha L
Location: Michigan
Date: 05 Apr 2003
Time: 16:19:32
Hi Larry, So beautifully said. Thanks for being here with us.
Member: Michael S.
Location: Mid-Michigan
Date: 06 Apr 2003
Time: 07:32:17
My name is Michael and I am an alcoholic. I have been sober for almost 19 mos., after more than 3 yrs. in program. One of sayings that helped me most and seems to have worked (so far) for this drunk is: KEEP COMING BACK, IF YOU DO NOT GET THE PROGRAM, THE PROGRAM WILL GET YOU. With the grace of G-d, it finally got me. Thank you everyone in the fellowship.