I was thinking about what meetings are all about. Why I go to them. One of the reasons is that I know from my experience and that of others that I cannot stay sober by myself. I learned that from my sponsor and all those old timers from the beginning of my sobriety. And I’ve seen the results of so many, who stopped going to meetings.
The other is that it gives me an opportunity to listen to the members sharing their experience, strength, and hope. I needed that desperately, when I came in. I still need it today. To be reminded of the solution to my disease of alcoholism. The insanity and despair I suffered from. And, oh, what hope those old timers gave me. I still seek that hope in every meeting I go to. And the faith that follows.
Of course one of the needs I have, which draws me back to meetings is the need I have to be reminded of what I so often forget. The principles, which are necessary for me to stay sober. The members talking about the Steps and often the Traditions, that singleness of purpose, which is the cement, when mixed together, that binds us all together. A reminder that this is a spiritual program.
That last thought is extremely important to an alcoholic like myself. How often I need to hear that the solution, which saved me from the slavery alcohol held me in, is those spiritual awakenings found in this program. The same solution, which the BB introduced me to. What my sponsor often reminded me of.
Finally, I was thinking, how much gratitude I have for what this program and meetings fill me with. And that is often one of the reasons I continue to attend meetings. A desire within me to give back what was so freely given to me. A way of saying thanks. How can I not be grateful?
Anyway, I was reminded by a couple of friends about the value of meetings and it made me stop and think. Once again thinking about sobriety.