A man at the meeting today said something to the effect that after years of sobriety he didn’t really know what a topic for an AA meeting should be. That was enough to take my breath away. Not really. I’m never surprised at what I hear.
I’m not thinking about putting anyone down, because the people in AA have changed over the years. But AA hasn’t changed. It’s still the same. The same thing which got Bill W. sober is here to get others, who want to be sober, sober. The steps, the traditions, the principles, the need to surrender to our powerlessness, the need to get a higher power, and the need to live a spiritual life.
It’s still a day at a time. No more no less.
Here’s an idea about what a topic for an AA meeting might be appropriate. How about sobriety? If it’s not about sobriety, why are we there? Why did I come to AA in the first place? I came because I couldn’t stop drinking on my own. What did I find when I came here? Alcoholics who were sober. I identified with them almost immediately. I was home at last. I was safe for the first time in my life. These people weren’t drinking. They were sober. And through these meetings and my sponsor and reading the BB, I was shown how to get sober a day at a time. It worked.
So, each day that I go to a meeting I hope to hear others tell me what they are doing to stay sober that day. I need all the help I can get. I need others to tell me what I forgot and remind me what I need to do to stay sober that day.
I need someone to say something, which will shake me out of my tendency to become complacent. I need someone to remind me that I need a higher power to help me through the day and to practice these principles in all of my affairs.
Anyway, that’s what I was thinking today.