I was given the gift of desperation on April 30th, 2013. Next Wednesday, God willing, I will celebrate 12 years of sobriety.
I have gone from being a newcomer who thought 90 meetings in 90 days was totally out of the question to finding AA was something I not only needed but wanted on a daily basis. In my first year of sobriety, I was in at least 10 meetings a week. Even when I started RVing full-time again, I managed to go to lots of meetings. GROW became my home group, but I continued to attend some f2f meetings. Now, 12 years down the road, I find I am struggling to stay engaged. This lack of interest started right after my 10 year sober anniversary.
Now, I know this is a big red flag. I was taught very early on that it isn’t uncommon once you get past 5 years and head into double digits to become complacent. I was warned this ‘dangerous time’ would probably come and to be on the lookout for it. I have not had any desire to drink, but I know it is only a matter of time if I don’t change something about my program.
I feel that my one saving grace is that I am aware of the problem. I am actively looking for ways to envigorate my program, and perhaps I may need some outside help. I adhere to the HOW philosophy – being Honest about my problem, being Open about what is going on, and to new ideas, and being Willing to try something new. This has served me well in the past.
I will forever be grateful for this program. AA saved my life and will continue to do so as long as I put in the work! I am also grateful that someone warned me early on to be watchful about boredom and complacency creeping in. The point of my topic today is to share that same warning with others so they might avoid a relapse.
Please share your experiences with keeping your program fresh so that others in the group might benefit. Knowledge is power.
Thank you for allowing me to be of service and
Blessings to all of you on this beautiful Spring Day!