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Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate
Again, I want to thank those that dropped me a PM. There have been so many there is no way that I can reply to them all right now, but rest assured that I appreciated all of them.
I did go to my "first" meeting last night. Like I said, I had gone before and didn't feel I fit in, but I gave it another go. I have mixed feelings about the experience.
First, I spoke to the leader regarding my reservations regarding the religious overtones. She gave me a pamphlet called "What if I don't believe in God" which was along these lines from the group's website:
The downside was that I so wanted to share, let loose, talk about my problems and feelings and issues that have consumed me. But everyone else in the room was at that same place, so before we got to me, we were told that we were out of time for the evening. It was definitely good to hear others with similar issues and experiences and lose that feeling of loneliness that Superfraggle just referred to. And I have lots of literature to read to get me started. I think I might do what others in my situation have done and start blogging about where I am at. Even if I am the only one that reads it, journalling your thoughts and experiences is often as cathartic as saying them out loud. And someone pointed out to me in the past that the journals are there to refer back to so you can see what you did on the good days and what happened on the bad to find out what truly makes you happy. And most times it is the days that you eschewed your particular weakness rather than gave in.
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Dont make the mistake of thinking all groups are the same, I advise my kids to try at least 8 or 9 groups and find one that feels comfortable to them, there are huge differences with AA and NA as well, NA tend (here) to be younger larger meetings with a looser feel, AA tend to be smaller older and more serious, conversely I find because of that the AA groups tend to be more effective where as the NA groups can be distracting due to the sheer size of them, also my kids can find someone to screw up with at NA just as easily as finding support.
Also always try to get to your first meetings early and introduce yourself to the meetings organisers, how they are will tell you alot about a group.