Sorry that I keep asking questions about AA, but I dont know anyone that has ever gone so I am going to ask the most qualified people I know... YOU! There are a bunch of codes for the AA meetings and I am trying to figure out which one I should try first.. I know the difference between "O" (open) and "C" (closed)... but then it says either speaker or discussion - would discussion be when everyone would be sitting in a circle and they go around and everyone talks and if so do you have to talk your first time going? Also, is speaker just when people sit in rows and someone is up front talking to you? I am not sure if it sounds silly or not but I just want to be prepared and know what I am walking into when I get there. I am going tomorrow (monday night) for the first time and was just wondering about which one I should try first. Well thanks for anyone's help! (if there is anything else i should know about it then pleeeaaaase let me know - as little as it seems!!!) THANKYOU ALL!!!
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"Advice is what you ask for when you already know the answer but wish you didn't"
Hi Jamie welcome to AA. Generally in a speaker meeting, the secretary of the meeting find a speaker, they may be a member of the group or could be from out of town. The speaker will share his or her experience, strength and hope and usually talk till it time for the meeting to end. More common is a Speaker/discussion meeting where the speaker will talk for about half the meeting pick a topic and the members will raise their hands to share. A Discussion meeting the secretary will pick a topic or ask a member to pick a topic and then member will take turns discussing it. There's a very good book called "Getting Started in AA" by Hamilton B. Available at the recovery section at Barnes and Noble or at Amazon.com. Good luck Bob.
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Work like you don't need the money
Love like you've never been hurt, and
dance like no one is watching.
You might wanna go to an open meeting, where there may be more newcomers, and listen. I know big city meetings come in all kinds and you'll have to find the right mix of people to suit you, but on average, we are a room full of drunks who have found sobriety, and all that goes along with that. Just people. Now the sitting in a circle stuff, maybe they do that in Canada or New York somewhere, don't know. Maybe they hold hands while they're at it. heheh. You don't have much choice in a small town, you get along with the folks around you, good lessons in it. I haven't known as many people in my life over a year than I do now, other than a few old drinking buddies. Seen me at my worst, seen some of them at their worst, and still getting to know them.
And if, when, things get rough, you won't make it or even wanna try without friends in the program. Those meetings will be a time out to sit in the eye of the storm for a while, gather strength to wade back in.
Not that it has to be like that, but I see a lot of newcomers, just don't get it, alcohol has them whooped, will take'm on to the grave or worse, and they play around trying to control things, wanting a little of both sides of the fence. Not understanding that what they are struggling with is larger than they will get a grip on. Things get ugly about the time they start snapping to it. Like waking up from a dream about spiders, to find yourself in a giant web.
They always said, "Don't give up till the miracle happens."
You can ask ? anytime ..that why these forums great
You dont have to speak if you dont want to.....i dont think i spoke at a meeting for the first year....But it might be a good ideal to let them no you are new ...so you can get phone # if you want to......
were i am which is northern California ..we have speaker meeting were the speaker talks for about 45 min
then we have speaker discussion ...which the speaker speaks fo 10 or 15 min..then picks a topic then they open the meeting for discussion ..
the we have discussion meeting were sombody pick a topic then they go around the room for discussion Good luck to you
If you want a meeting every night here, you go to NA and hang out with the farmhands and AA to hang out with the farmers. I now know almost as much about farming as I do about sobriety.
We have a variety of meetings here: open discussion meetings which are pretty self explanetory by the title, Living Sober meetings which focuses on excerpts from the book Living Sober, Step Study in which (yeah- you guessed it) we study and discuss one of the steps, Big Book meetings, speaker meetings, Women's meetings, mens meetings, teen meetings, and most important of all- beginners meetings.
There are some more that we have defined at the bottom of our schedule but I've never seen them on the calander (stick meeting? No smoking and alcoholics only.)
Just wanted you to know I'm glad your starting with meetings, and no question is to silly when your sobriety comes into place, my suggestion would try going to both they will help you out alot.
Then decide from there on where u feel most comfortable, you've got some great advice already. Just take it one day at a time and things will fall in to place for you, do what feels comfortable for you hon.
Good luck and I'll be thinkin of u and let us know how u made out please.
I don't think it matters what type your first meeting is. All meetings I've ever been to ask if there are any newcomers, and that's the most important thing - to introduce yourself. Whether the meeting is a speaker, discussion, Big Book study, or some combination, you will have people to get phone numbers from and talk to after the meeting.
My first meeting was a discussion but a fairly large one. I came about 1/2 hour early and I was immediately spotted as a newbie, and this guy told me his own story before the meeting. Then in the meeting, they made the topic the first step, or just "How I got here" so I heard a little bit of a lot of different peoples' stories. I felt like everybody there was talking directly to me. One of the people who talked at that meeting became my sponsor.
I think the most important thing is to go to a meeting, and from there figure out your next meeting -- you'll have plenty of suggestions and recommendations. Beginner meetings are also available, but there's no reason to limit yourself. My first meeting was on a Monday; my first beginner meeting was the following Saturday, actually it was my 6th meeting. By the time I had completed the 5 beginner meetings on Saturdays, I had been to 30+ meetings overall, including speakers, big books, and discussion.
