Someone is always chiming in to tell me how great their local meetings are. Ahhh yes, good ol’ AA… i love when you suggest that like I’ve never heard it before:rofl:
You must live in or near a city, where there’s multiple meetings, daily! Yeah, I hear all about them, but I’ve never been in a situation where driving several hours, daily, to attend said meetings, is going to work for me. When I post here, in my struggle, I’m looking for other suggestions… outside the box(of AA mtgs)so to speak. I can’t stress that enough. Don’t post here trying to defend your position, i GET that meetings work for you, but they simply dont exist in rural america. Yes, I’ve tried online meetings and while they are fine, I’m looking for real life experiences. PLEASE only respond if you have something helpful to add.
I found a CaliSober group on Facebook that has daily NA zoom meetings. I have same issue you have and in the busy busy Chicago burbs. Went to two churches that NA.gov site said had meetings but, nope. Not active. 35 days clean, pressing on
As said a lot of online meetings. There are also readings, both AA and non AA, spiral steps, rational recovery, bla bla bla. There are apps, reframe, there is all sorts of things.
When AA started people didn’t have meetings, so they wrote letters. I think the important part is communication.
Hop on the phone, all it takes to have a meeting is 2 alcoholics is talking to eachother.
Hi Nat! Have you tried listening to any sober podcasts? If you go onto Spotify and search, you will find a ton of them. I don’t have any particular one in mind to recommend, but there is a wide variety of them. Hope this helps 
a fresh perspective, I like it..
I haven't been to a meeting or done the steps in years and I am almost 8 years sober and I am a happy camper.
I never did meetings either. They were available, just wasn't a good fit or whatever. If it's a personal connection, then find at least one person to vent with/to, or do it yourself with Journaling. You can even make it a dialog, play both angel and devil on your shoulders to "sound it out" - it gets pretty interesting. (Not sure your taste in music, but theres a single called "Hi Ren" where Ren goes back and forth w his 2 inner selves)
Their website has a locator
I really related to your story. 6.6 years ago I threw away my last bottle. I did it without AA. Why??? Because it didn't work for me either. I sense that you are aware of resources out there but can't seem to connect with one. I think it's important to be aware that ONE of the keys to long term recovery lies within making connections. Any connection is helpful. And here you are putting yourself out there to make a connection. You're doing it!! For the short term, for tonight, I hope you can make a connection with someone. A shared experience, frustrations, tips, or celebrations with someone can make a difference.
I live in a town of 786. We have 2 weekly AA meetings here. I use to attend, but AA is not my thing either. I prefer more of an educated, moderated lead AODA group meeting.
Try looking for zoom meetings
𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝑁𝑎𝑡, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙. 𝐼'𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘...𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑀𝑎𝑦𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢. 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡
How about church? Therapy?
Nat, I hear you. I’ve been to many remote places around the world and found people who started their own AA/NA meetings. Where ever I’ve been there are addicts that want to get and stay sober/clean.
It’s not hard to start a meeting.
I’m in the same boat!! I live in the middle of nowhere and I work more than most people do. Meetings are essentially impossible and virtual meetings were pointless. I did attend 50 meetings or so at various locations then I realized that AA just wasn’t for me. It felt like a cult honestly. So I just decided not to drink. It’s that simple. Well it was for me at least.
Hey there Nat, I worked for a company before and was assigned to rural areas and small towns all across Northern U.S. when I felt isolated and needed connection with MisFits I talked about my recovery and journey I found out even in the middle of nowhere there are others just like me that needed a connection. Not just a AA meeting but a open chat with others who are are open minded too. I found that when I talked to others about my recovery that I could always find at least one person who I could talk to openly and not just revolve around AA principles and there was always a Dr. Or health care provider close that would be thankful for me reaching out to be willing to help someone else while helping myself.
Not to derail the thread, but people are people. No matter what program, or non program, or anywhere in life, some judge and some don’t. Smart Recovery, AA, Recovery Dharma, Celebrate Recovery, Church, etc, they are all just made up of human beings. Some judge a lot and some are more tolerant.
I would agree. Especially in smaller rural areas where its just the same people repeatedly bringing up the same stories. I had people's stories literally memorized.
Church