From photos taken at an AA meeting – spring of 1964
It didn’t happen… I heard that people attended 90 AA meetings in 90 days, and I knew I could never pull that off, so I invented a truncated version of the dictum – 30 Meetings in 30 Days – and announced to my friends I intended to achieve this goal. No one looked skeptical or said, “You aren’t going to do that Mare,” although I know they all thought it… I am here to confess I gave up about half way through.
By now you should have figured out I am a dabbler – my best intentions are always stymied by the tedium of the follow through. I did do 5 meetings in 5 days, and I am more open to 12-Step meetings in general, but that hardly deserves an exclamation point or a website “unique click”. I did do a lot of research, and now I know about Celebrate Recovery, Faces and Voices of Recovery, Smart Recovery and the fact there are 700 AA meetings to choose from in the Jacksonville area alone.
I still believe the idea of 90 AA meetings in 90 days is valid for the following reasons:
1. For those who are new to recovery and feeling fragile, attending meetings every day is a means of connecting and reaffirming sobriety.
2. Showing up at one or more meeting a day helps to establish healthy patterns and new, positive habits.
3. 90 days of meetings, allows a person to familiarize themselves with the program and even establish a “home meeting” and a sponsor.
4. Alcoholics are used to filling their days with drinking and more drinking (I found the days were long without having to schedule time to drink three bottles of Chardonnay…): organizing and attending meetings is something positive to do to fill the hours.
5. Regular attendance at meetings requires social interaction – and helps eliminate the desire for isolation – the alcoholic’s bête noire… .
I’m a dilettante. So sue me. But I am an educated, thinking, conversational, sober,dilettante. And I am open to every idea, every article, every gathering, every avenue to alleviate suffering and improve the process of getting and staying sober.
Find your meeting.
