Good Afternoon All,
Each day of the week we have a different meeting topic ( Newcomer meeting talking about Steps 1-3, Speaker, Big Book Study, Twelve & Twelve Study, etc). I can tell you that as a newcomer I never got much out of Thursday night meetings. But I can say that 6 out of 7 nights are great to me. I belong to Cocaine Anonymous and I've decided our home group are rebels (in a good way to me). All of our meetings are "Open" meetings, meaning anyone can attend. We also don't go around the room introducing ourselves at the beginning of the meeting. However, we do introduce ourself any time we read or share. My friend is in NA and they have open and closed meetings. And she doesn't like some of the things we do different. But I just tell her, she's an oldtimer.
We agree to disagree.
Some nights the discussions are hard and crude and other nights they are not.Sometimes I do feel some share just a bit more information than I need to know about the things they've done in their past. There are some things I'll never share with anyone but my sponsor. But that's my choice. I try to think that there are those who need to hear those sorted details so they don't feel alone. It is good to hear someone say something that you thought only you had done. I have been a judgemental person in the past. That is one thing I'm really trying not doing in the program.
Who am I to judge others. I need to keep my side of the street clean and not worry about others.
Don't expect to trust anyone in the beginning. Why should you trust people you don't know? Trust is earned and will come in it's own good time. I wouldn't even trust everyone in the rooms today. I did surprise myself when working my 2nd step with my sponsor. As I was talking about some things, I hesitated and told her the worst thing I'd done while using. It was the thing that made me feel worthless. Guess what? She'd done the same thing. Shocked me!
Of course before telling her what it was, I said this is something I didn't think I'd ever tell a soul.
I agree with all the post about the vultures out there. I was blessed with some good guys in our home group. Especially two who have become my friends (and they don't have my number). They don't believe in 13th stepping newcomers. Not that they haven't done it in the past. But they learned from their mistakes. But one warned me when I have a year clean the gloves are off.
I have given my number to a few guys in our group, who I feel comfortable with. And we discussed why we were giving each other our numbers. They know I'm there to work the program, stay clean and live a happy life. Now that's not to say I wouldn't ever date... a guy in the program. It's just not where I'm at today. I agree that a woman's meeting may be a good place for you to go also. But don't let some jack... stop you from your ultimate goal.
Linear Mode
