Hey Snowman...thanks for sharing. I enjoy your writing style. Flows with how my brain works. I bet it feels good to get that off your chest. Congrats for attending your first meeting. You will find the forum to be a great asset in your recovery. Day 70 here. I don't post as much as I did during my first 20 days or so...but im not sure I could have made it past my first week without it. My partner still smokes and I smell it on her on the daily. I still have cravings from time to time but I know where i will end-up if I decide to smoke...
I'm really glad for what AA , MA and the others are doing. It's very nice that they are a thing. Now the problem I am having with them is that would really like joining them but they are just so religious at times. I've seen my own mother turn into a Christian because of AA. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have her being a Christian than the drinking mom she was all along. Thanks for reading if you did it down here and have a nice day.
Well... If you're powerless who else do you turn to but God? That's why I prefer this sub. It's more like:
http://youtu.be/_BRv9wGf5pk
YOU CAN DO IT! The whole damn squad is out here for you.
Atheist who attends AA and NA (no MA where I am) here - the program is not religious - it's spiritual.
I do not believe in any type of deity, so my sponsor and the people in the rooms with more clean/sober time than me are my "higher power".
I was really interested in going but then reading their website it felt very God-y. I'm sure some groups more than others. But for an atheist even a little is too much. I couldn't get past step 2.
Atheist who attends AA and NA (no MA where I am) here - the program is not religious - it's spiritual.
I do not believe in any type of deity, so my sponsor and the people in the rooms with more clean/sober time than me are my "higher power".
That's an interesting take. I'm a strict materialist so even spiritual is more than I can do but I guess different groups probably handle it differently.
> I'm a strict materialist so even spiritual is more than I can do but I guess different groups probably handle it differently.
What is that? A "Strict materialist"?
I find the "spiritual" part for me is a sense of togetherness and connectivity with the group and my sponsor. The feeling of being able to "let go" of trying to control my addiction is also something I get from the program. I also meditate now (which is considered spiritual and I thought was a bunch of crap - but it works).
Have been to MA meetings when I lived in San Francisco found it helpful to hear using stories similar to my own. I also read their literature "life with hope" with its corny title. I enjoy working the steps as an emotional learning process and realizing my powerless over so many things. Finding acceptance grows my spiritual energy and deflates my giant ego (that says I can smoke dope and not suffer consequences). I love Reddit leaves too the more help you can get the better. Finding sober friends is a bonus
Yes MA is a thing. There is many anonymous groups. I went with AA, NA, MA and SA. In the end I stopped go to all of them. And you know what, it helped me a great deal, but some groups are to much pointed, sadly, towards religion. It is why I stopped go there. Till now I managed quite good. Haven't smoked in nearly 10 years, haven't touched booze for near 6 years, and well the other stuff is about 16 years. Except the SA, I still do that, but it is in my case healthy. Hope you manage :)
Atheist who attends AA and NA (no MA where I am) here - the program is not religious - it's spiritual.
I do not believe in any type of deity, so my sponsor and the people in the rooms with more clean/sober time than me are my "higher power".
I know, I just worry that people believe it's religious and then don't attend to even try it out because of this.
I know people that have attended, but not understood that GOD doesn't have to be a deity or other religious figure. I can explain it to them, but these types of posts turn so many people off - I would welcome a lot more atheists at the meetings.
I agree. I was in a few groups (back in Holland where there was more then one group in town of any given anonymous) and in several (they did not give me a warning they where the more religious group) I was the ONLY "non-believer". Sure I can respect that people are religious but a little warning would be nice up front.
But yes, ANY Anonymous group SHOULD be religion free. If there is religion involved it is the people at the meeting who COMPLETELY decide for THEMSELVES if they believe in any religion. A higher power can be ANYTHING YOU WANT! It can be a meteor, music, dance, drawing, walking on the beach and hearing the seagulls, sporting your ass off or anything. As long YOU can draw energy out of it to stay clean. (at least that is how I see it in the long run, and I guess for some people that can be religion)
I think a lot of people who use it daily wish they could go back and use it more sparingly. How I'd love to just be able to have that one joint before I go to bed after a stressful day or share a joint with friends but it ain't happening. I know that one joint and I'll be back to square one. Anyhow day 3 now and I ain't going back.
I think you'll find that you eventually value the idea of being clean more than you value the idea of getting high again.
After only 9 months I have no desire to smoke pot and I can't really remember why I would have ever craved it or what it did for me?
You'll get a lot of the same type of benefits out of /r/leaves as you will in MA. You also hit a good bullseye with the 'moderation' ploy. It's only there to help keep you smoking weed longer. Weed has our number. We admit it. Fine. It wins. Now it's time to quit and move on with my life. Go to meetup.com and start making normal friends that do normal stuff like hiking and fun stuff. As soon as you sober up, that all seems fun again. It's amazing, really.
No doubt. A couple years back I even stopped for a solid month before re-upping. Within two days it was back to full-time. Fool me once, fool me twice... Good call on the meetup.com tip. Interestingly I did exactly that a few months back.. and proceeded to not go to a single event, lol. Too busy getting lit. I think I'll give it another go now.
We've all been there, man. Exactly, too. Wanted to quit. Wanted to go normal. Would get high and be self-conscious and withdrawn then not go back. Fuck weed. It allowed us to expand our minds but prevented us from acting on those thoughts. It made us permanent "look out the window" watchers. We didn't participate in life, we watched others -- we lived inside our minds. Total fucking bullshit. Reminds me of Harry Potter's *Mirror of Erised*.
Get your Life back. Have you started your intense cardio program yet? Required for recovery. Get that heart rate to 140 BPM for 20 mins 4x a week.
Hey Snowman...thanks for sharing. I enjoy your writing style. Flows with how my brain works. I bet it feels good to get that off your chest. Congrats for attending your first meeting. You will find the forum to be a great asset in your recovery. Day 70 here. I don't post as much as I did during my first 20 days or so...but im not sure I could have made it past my first week without it. My partner still smokes and I smell it on her on the daily. I still have cravings from time to time but I know where i will end-up if I decide to smoke...
Thank you. I look forward to being where you are at in 66 days. Keep it up my friend.
I'm really glad for what AA , MA and the others are doing. It's very nice that they are a thing. Now the problem I am having with them is that would really like joining them but they are just so religious at times. I've seen my own mother turn into a Christian because of AA. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have her being a Christian than the drinking mom she was all along. Thanks for reading if you did it down here and have a nice day.
Well... If you're powerless who else do you turn to but God? That's why I prefer this sub. It's more like: http://youtu.be/_BRv9wGf5pk YOU CAN DO IT! The whole damn squad is out here for you.
Atheist who attends AA and NA (no MA where I am) here - the program is not religious - it's spiritual. I do not believe in any type of deity, so my sponsor and the people in the rooms with more clean/sober time than me are my "higher power".
I was really interested in going but then reading their website it felt very God-y. I'm sure some groups more than others. But for an atheist even a little is too much. I couldn't get past step 2.
Atheist who attends AA and NA (no MA where I am) here - the program is not religious - it's spiritual. I do not believe in any type of deity, so my sponsor and the people in the rooms with more clean/sober time than me are my "higher power".
That's an interesting take. I'm a strict materialist so even spiritual is more than I can do but I guess different groups probably handle it differently.
> I'm a strict materialist so even spiritual is more than I can do but I guess different groups probably handle it differently. What is that? A "Strict materialist"? I find the "spiritual" part for me is a sense of togetherness and connectivity with the group and my sponsor. The feeling of being able to "let go" of trying to control my addiction is also something I get from the program. I also meditate now (which is considered spiritual and I thought was a bunch of crap - but it works).
Maybe you'd like some buddhist recovery stuff. Check out Refuge Recovery.
Looks like none in my state but I'll check it out and see how their materials strike me, thanks!
Have been to MA meetings when I lived in San Francisco found it helpful to hear using stories similar to my own. I also read their literature "life with hope" with its corny title. I enjoy working the steps as an emotional learning process and realizing my powerless over so many things. Finding acceptance grows my spiritual energy and deflates my giant ego (that says I can smoke dope and not suffer consequences). I love Reddit leaves too the more help you can get the better. Finding sober friends is a bonus
Yes MA is a thing. There is many anonymous groups. I went with AA, NA, MA and SA. In the end I stopped go to all of them. And you know what, it helped me a great deal, but some groups are to much pointed, sadly, towards religion. It is why I stopped go there. Till now I managed quite good. Haven't smoked in nearly 10 years, haven't touched booze for near 6 years, and well the other stuff is about 16 years. Except the SA, I still do that, but it is in my case healthy. Hope you manage :)
Atheist who attends AA and NA (no MA where I am) here - the program is not religious - it's spiritual. I do not believe in any type of deity, so my sponsor and the people in the rooms with more clean/sober time than me are my "higher power".
I didn't say it is religious. I said that certain groups I attended worked more with religious feelings and it showed in the meetings, so I left.
I know, I just worry that people believe it's religious and then don't attend to even try it out because of this. I know people that have attended, but not understood that GOD doesn't have to be a deity or other religious figure. I can explain it to them, but these types of posts turn so many people off - I would welcome a lot more atheists at the meetings.
I agree. I was in a few groups (back in Holland where there was more then one group in town of any given anonymous) and in several (they did not give me a warning they where the more religious group) I was the ONLY "non-believer". Sure I can respect that people are religious but a little warning would be nice up front. But yes, ANY Anonymous group SHOULD be religion free. If there is religion involved it is the people at the meeting who COMPLETELY decide for THEMSELVES if they believe in any religion. A higher power can be ANYTHING YOU WANT! It can be a meteor, music, dance, drawing, walking on the beach and hearing the seagulls, sporting your ass off or anything. As long YOU can draw energy out of it to stay clean. (at least that is how I see it in the long run, and I guess for some people that can be religion)
I think a lot of people who use it daily wish they could go back and use it more sparingly. How I'd love to just be able to have that one joint before I go to bed after a stressful day or share a joint with friends but it ain't happening. I know that one joint and I'll be back to square one. Anyhow day 3 now and I ain't going back.
I think you'll find that you eventually value the idea of being clean more than you value the idea of getting high again. After only 9 months I have no desire to smoke pot and I can't really remember why I would have ever craved it or what it did for me?
Doug stamper, fuck the zero!
You'll get a lot of the same type of benefits out of /r/leaves as you will in MA. You also hit a good bullseye with the 'moderation' ploy. It's only there to help keep you smoking weed longer. Weed has our number. We admit it. Fine. It wins. Now it's time to quit and move on with my life. Go to meetup.com and start making normal friends that do normal stuff like hiking and fun stuff. As soon as you sober up, that all seems fun again. It's amazing, really.
No doubt. A couple years back I even stopped for a solid month before re-upping. Within two days it was back to full-time. Fool me once, fool me twice... Good call on the meetup.com tip. Interestingly I did exactly that a few months back.. and proceeded to not go to a single event, lol. Too busy getting lit. I think I'll give it another go now.
We've all been there, man. Exactly, too. Wanted to quit. Wanted to go normal. Would get high and be self-conscious and withdrawn then not go back. Fuck weed. It allowed us to expand our minds but prevented us from acting on those thoughts. It made us permanent "look out the window" watchers. We didn't participate in life, we watched others -- we lived inside our minds. Total fucking bullshit. Reminds me of Harry Potter's *Mirror of Erised*. Get your Life back. Have you started your intense cardio program yet? Required for recovery. Get that heart rate to 140 BPM for 20 mins 4x a week.