The AA home group at District 5, Area 74 Service Workshop in River Falls, WI

OK, we're going to get started. This, this, this panel will be on a a Home group and they'll share their experience in that area, Dick, Neil and Adam. So please welcome them.

Oh, my name is Dick. I'm an alcoholic Dick.

I had an interesting how I got here. I wanted to thank John. I can't remember who mentioned to me I was thinking about coming over here and bringing Dave along and and I think about doing a lot of things, but I seldom do them in a a but I was thinking, OK, well, and then someone said I think they're looking they might need someone for a panel. And I think, well, I remember that John. I remember he was kind of

do I have his phone number and I kind of looked my phone. I didn't have his phone number and I was wondering about that and

within the next 5 minutes John called me and asked me to come here. So I want to thank John for calling me when I was thinking about doing it and may not have done it on my own, but

I I just wanted to share a few my experience and the experience of some others as it relates to I've been. The other thing that John did was inviting me. For the last couple years, I've been making a making a list in my head about things that

I have done, things that I watch other people do that seem to work. So I've been thinking about the list. And when he talked to me, this just prompted me to finally do something about it. And I sat down. I had a lot of other resources. I've been listening to a lot of other people about what to include on this list and

the list that I've been trying to create My head is common practices of a structured of structured home groups

and things that we do that seem to work.

And this and by number means is all inclusive. It's just been my experience that I've seen and seen in my Home group and really what it helped me develop appreciation for. What role does the Home group play in my sobriety and my recovery?

To me, the Home group, My Home group

again did for me what I could not do for myself.

In that, you know, I got, I finally went to a meeting, I got a sponsor and the sponsor said, well, we'll read through the book, We'll go through the steps. You know, it was sort of like me and the sponsor doing what we needed to do. And but he kept telling me that I had to do a lot more. And right from the very beginning, he said, watch what they're doing and just try to do what they're doing. Just do what they're doing and you'll be fine.

So

that's what I've realized is even if I had been able to watch what they were doing and thought about doing what they were doing, I priced still wouldn't have done what they were doing. The Home group and seemed to make it OK for me that it seemed possible for me to do what they were doing because I was watching them do it. It wasn't just, it wasn't just a list that someone made-up and handed to me.

I multiple times a week I got to watch these people and I and he said pay attention

and watch what they're doing. So that's what I did. So with that,

I was able to overtime to start to take the actions that they were doing because I finally got to the part, well, if they can do it, I guess maybe I could do it. So that helped me move way beyond this, just working with the sponsor and going through the steps. The other thing that this kind of what I learned from my Home group is there's some issues involved

related to this is that statement and how it works. Half measures availed is nothing.

Well, the big book doesn't really have the list of what are what's full measures then half measures don't work. Well, what's full measures? It doesn't really say. And I think what I interpreted and what my sponsor said is

all you have to worry about is full measures is what they're doing in your Home group, just do what they're doing. So that's whether it's true or not or it doesn't matter is that's how in my head I started getting this picture of what full measures or

what was what, what measures did I have to take to not just recover or not just be sober, but to recover. That's the other thing they taught me. As they said, there's a big difference between sobriety and recovery. And if you can go to some meetings in the during the week and you can talk to a sponsor and you might stay sober for you might stay sober for a lot of years, but are you going to be happy, joyous and free? And I didn't know what they meant really by that, but

what I learned from my very first meeting is they were laughing, they had their eyes were sparkling. They were alive.

They were talking about doing things outside the meetings and looking forward to doing them. And a lot of excitement, enthusiasm. And that's what I've learned in doing these things is, is how to bring about what what I guess it's defined as recovery so that I have some of that joy in being sober rather than just being sober.

This kind of list comes from, again, from my experience in my Home group. And that's primary where I got the watching what they did,

but also comes from

a lot of other similar home groups that have been doing this for 40 to 50 years. And so I have a lot of others to thank, Dick M from Nebraska and Clancy from LA, stuff like that. So anyway, this is these are some things I kind of jotted down that for me, these are the things that many of the people, most of the people in my Home group do. And I try to do

these things to the best my Billy, I don't do them all, but the more I do with, the happier I seem to be. But

one is right from the first meeting. My sponsor told me is attend at least three meetings per week. One that studies the big book, one that studies the steps and traditions, the 12:00 and 12:00 and 1:00. That's an open speaker meeting where I hear the whole story. So that's what I did

#2 is one of one of those three meetings is my Home group. You can identify importance of a Home group. And what he said was what I learned from the others is I always, always attend the Home group

meeting every week unless, unless there's a death in the family mine. So I'm always there unless I absolutely. And oh, and if I can't be there and call my sponsor and explain things and then he usually lets me know whether my excuse is good enough or not. The third one is the same goals for the other two meetings. So I thought, well, wait a minute, that

if I always, always, always have to be the Home group meeting the same for the other two, you know. Anyway, that was another way of

getting me to all three meetings. So that's what I do for all three meetings.

I got a sponsor. I use that sponsor

every week, multiple times a week. I do what that sponsor suggests to the best of my ability. Another item is we study. I study with him and with these groups. I we study the A A literature

that goes back to #1 as far as the Big Book meeting, the 12:00 and 12:00 meeting steps and traditions. Every week, multiple times we study the A A literature

and I was also encouraged to attend big book seminars, which they did. So I went along.

Another one is he kept saying become part of the fellowship,

get as many names and phone numbers of the people in the group and don't just get them then start calling them and then do things with them outside the meetings. And I thought the three meetings a week plus meeting with a sponsor was a bit much. And then I got do more with them too. And I and one of the first things I did outside the meetings with the Home group members and was we, we help each other move. And I believe it was my first three weeks of sobriety we had

and I, I didn't want to move me, let alone move you,

but I did

since 8:00 Saturday morning, I went, oh, 8:00. That's and my sponsor said, she said just be there, you know, And so that's what I did. And within that first three weeks of sobriety,

I was laughing at the moves. I was having fun moving them and I and after a number of moves, I'm

one member there said one member held the record for the most moves within the group. And and if someone said it was the 8th time and I thought well talk to your sponsor, what's wrong with you? Stop moving, I mean. So anyway, I started doing a lot of things outside the meetings like he suggested,

he said. Pay attention to other Home group members and he kind of said judge them not in a negative sense, but he said

pay attention to the people that seem to be happy. Pay attention to people if you're interested in

event someday being married again, pay attention to the married people that have happy married relationships. Pay attention to people that seem to have good, happy, productive, healthy relationships with their children, with the people they work with. So he said, pay attention to the people and especially those that seem to be

having good experiences in those portions of their life. So that's what I did,

I was told and it was example at our meetings, one person talks at a time.

OK, I always have an opinion and I'm sure you want to hear it. And also it's always anyway just one person at a time. Part of the the name structured Home group comes from said that our meeting starting time, they end on time. People don't get up during the meeting to go to the bathroom or get extra coffee when someone's speaking

because that can be disruptive to the speaker. And I thought, well, when you got to go, you got to go. I mean, what's

he says, just go before the meeting or after the meeting? Can you hold it for an hour? You know, OK,

I, I was told to have commitments at all meetings, the small jobs that just to help the meeting out. And this gets back to another back to one of the other items. Why to get all these names and phone numbers because

if you can't make it to the meeting, therefore you can't do your commitment. Call someone so that they can do your commitment. Well, to do that, I need names and phone numbers. Plus I got to talk to some of the other members. And then of course I made myself open that they would call me and ask me to do their commitment. And I always said yes. So I did that. And another big thing was

unlike what we had done, as I had done as a very self-centered alcoholic, was

do what I said I was going to do when I said I was going to do it. And if I can't call and

try to solve it. If I'm causing a problem by not doing, I call before that to the people that will be impacted if I don't do it. In other words, to be responsible,

I was told to become involved in my own recovery and my sponsor. I thought it was kind of harsh, he said. I have to care more about my my recovery than him. So

you're, you're supposed to be my sponsor. You're supposed to really care about says yes, but you got to care more than him. In other words, when I meet with my sponsor, I drive to his house, he doesn't drive to my house. So

then I was told to try to act better than I feel. That was a hard one, he says. Can you just do it today?

OK, Tonight, he says. Can you just do it tonight? OK, I'll try to do that tonight. First, take the steps and don't just talk about them, but they actually to do them on an ongoing basis, routine basis and my sponsors always asking about that. He's asking for the details to find out if I am taking the steps or if I need to take more of the steps.

You've many of you have heard this one from a long very old timer and a a is the clean up my act to uncover, discover and discard that which was

of no use and harmful. Another thing we do is was told to dress up to honor a A not all the time, but once in a while. My Home group meeting. Many of us it's not a requirement, but many of us dress up once a week. The other meetings it's anything goes, but we try to dress up once we go to conferences of roundups, usually Saturday night, the banquet. We try to dress up just as once in a while as an honor to a a A.

We're told to shake hands with the speaker and thank them.

So if you've ever been to a big, big conference or roundup and that I was just that one month and a half two months ago and it was about 2500 people there and after the speaker speaks and is this your only time to go to the bathroom? You got to get in line with about 2000 people to thank the speaker. But we do it or we run, go to the bathroom, come back to line smaller, but you go and you think the speaker.

This kind of goes back to

acting better and I feel is be friendly with people even when I don't feel friendly. Another hard one to do.

I was told to talk to newcomers, then converse with my friends, but always, always looking out for the newcomers and try to go over to them right away and talk to them. And then I was told I was always told be on time for my commitment, stuff like that. And then I

that was told Naya being on time means 20 minutes early. So

I was suggested that I do the dues and don't do the don'ts, and I knew what they were.

And

because I've done them many times,

it was suggested that I speak the language of the heart, let people know that I care through my actions and my words. That was very hard for me,

but thanks to the people in the Home group, I am all better at that.

I was told to have suggested that I accept the seemingly bad with the seemingly good because many times they're switched in my head.

Seemingly bad things that occurred in my life ended up being the best things that occurred in my life.

So accept them all because I can't make sense of which are bad and which are good.

I was told to learn to be square, make my bed, mow my lawn, and get a haircut

at district. I was suggested elect trusted servants that I know can and will do the job, not just because they have to be a friend or something like that.

It was also related to district as practiced the principal rotation as to whenever possible, rotate out of positions, take new positions, make room an opportunity for others.

At our meetings we try to talk about the solution, not the problem, and always to remember that the problem is me.

So what do I do about me if I'm the problem? That's what I hear at the meetings.

I try to live the traditions in a, A and my relationships and in my work and that is worked wonders both at work and in relationships.

I was suggested or I was told I have to surrender and if you're new here and you haven't quite surrendered yet as I can't tell you how just that you must and I can only share how how I did it. What happened? Like other old comers, I was told to trust God, clean house and help others. Summarizing the 12 steps,

it was one time suggested to make sure that I always put something in the hat even if I'm out of work. But something, even if it's a quarter or something, because it's the act based upon myself, centeredness and my selfishness. It's my act of putting something in the hat that benefits me and benefits others no matter what the amount is.

On my a a birthday I give a dollar for each year sobriety and send it to GSO and everyone in our group do does that.

I was suggested that I take actions beyond the group service positions at District area, help sponsor workshops just like this one roundups. Our group organizes the Chippewa Valley Roundup. Always have a job at that roundup and help with that.

And I always try to remember. I was told to remember that if I take the actions, I will change. But I can't think myself into acting differently. I have to act my way into a new way of thinking

and there's no one I didn't want to hear is when things get rough, go to more meetings. I mean, when things get really rough at work and really busy, I'm traveling, whatever, I don't have time to go to more meetings and say no and things get rough, go to more meetings. And last of all, I was told to try to do all of these with great enthusiasm. And many people talk about pockets of enthusiasm and like that's an example of today is this workshop is an example of that.

So anyway, that's a work in progress. The list of the things I've tried to do that I learned my Home group and how important the Home group is and I certainly will continue to try to do it, but that'll pass.

Very good, thank you. I'm new alcoholic. Before I get started, I think the lady that's spoke here before really was really thorough and I really enjoyed it.

And this gentleman here, you know, I, when he had to say, I'm going to keep it really simple because I'm, I think the longer I stay sober, the more I have to keep it simple. And you know, I'm, it sound like I don't know if anybody's here from Eau Claire, the, the Pacific group. I don't know. I don't, I, I'm new in the area. I've moved here. We retired and I, I, I also live in LA

and I, I, we bought a condo out here and I'm getting involved. Got to know Gary and a few other people and John.

John invited me here and to share about Home group and all I could do is share my own experience, strength of hope, what I went through.

I am a product of the Pacific Group from West LA and I got.

That Home group was Pacific Tuesday night at Ohio when I got sober and then they moved in into Wednesday night at the synagogue and I have AI had a sponsor then my I've been out of the group for a few years because I moved away then, but

I did exactly what they said I was. I I had a Home group which was the the Pacific group and I has a sponsor

and his name with Keith was Keith C and his sponsor was Clancy. And I am, I am the one of the people that was the spotter. I don't know if anybody knows what a spotter is, but when the goats would come by, I would have to spot

because Clancy had goats in the backyard and there was people that had the wheelbarrow and all that. When you're newly sober, you just do what you're told, you know? And that's what I did because I wanted to stay sober. I did what I had. I was in the yard

and he has what is called the yard and

my sponsor, he says, Neil just just act as if because I had a very hard time when I came in in, in Alcoholics Anonymous because I still have the obsession, OK. It was really strong with me and thank God for the group and God put me in that group because I needed that structure. And I, I, I did everything that my sponsor said, like the gentleman here and

the Pacific group, if you known

if there's anybody here that they shake hands a lot. When I came into Alcoholics Anonymous and Pacific Group, my sponsor had to ask the people to shake my hand in the Pacific group because I was not a likely person. I came in with long hair and a beard. And that lasted one day, if you know what I mean. You know, Clancy says, oh, we got the House of David here, you know,

and I had a resentment. I went at him. I you know, I they have AI cussed at him and I had to pay like $0.50 at the yard or something like that. And I say here's another dollar. Yo F you know, and I didn't know who he was. I don't know. So you know, that's the way I that's the way I come out. You know, Keith C was my sponsor. I don't know if anybody knew Keith, Keith Carpenter. He passed away a few years ago, but him and Clancy were real close with a lot of the guys like Johnny Harris and all them. But the whole deal is they taught me how how did we had

we had a Tuesday night, we had the big book study we had. I stick this stuck with the group for over 7 years and I also had to wear a tie. As you know, I'm not in the Pacific group anymore. But but the whole deal is I had to learn what I learned what what happened was my first year sobriety. I stayed busy. Action was the magic word. My sponsor tone said don't open up the big book. You can't even comprehend for 15 seconds.

And so my first year was mainly action in the group. I didn't start getting involved in my first year at a sobriety. I what happened was Keith says, why won't you go work at central office on the phones? That's why I started my, my, uh,

in, in my sobriety got involved in there. I stayed there then for a year. Then in two years I got involved with a GSR and I learned that the traditions, you know, I was, I, you know, I wouldn't want to leave. Was speaking. I remember that we had, believe it or not, there was a meeting that we had that, that they were going to film in the Pacific group. And what happened was they, they, what they did, they filmed from behind. They filmed this. The, the, the, the guy that read the chapter 5

and the 12 traditions and that's all they did. And we had a really hassle at that time, you know, and I remember the Clancy and all that and I was involved with the GSR, you know, and I stayed there and I'll be honest with you, the traditions is, is really important, but I got involved in more than that. In those days. There was central office in central LA and I got AI would go to meetings Incognito that wanted to be listed. And if, if meetings had any problems and I, they would send me there. I don't know, I being the big guy and if I, if

any trouble or somewhere they started swinging at me, but that's what I did. I got involved in, in a lot of the GSR, the central service. I was zone F delegate for in the group over there in, in West LA and I, I would go to meetings and, and that that was part of what I learned

in alcohol and is it helped keep me sober and I got involved with hospital institutions. All this is because of the group, my Home group. See my Home group is what they, they, they, it was structured for me to be to do that. And then after and after I did that, when I moved away, I kept a lot of that. And yeah, I and it's true, you know, resentment, a big book and a pot of coffee start a meeting.

And that's what I did. I moved to Escondido in San Diego area. I, I, and that's the main thing is, is that

for, for this alcoholic, I, I enjoyed a lot of it, but I'm on more or less on a one to one basis. I learned that over my years of in Alcoholics Anonymous. I, I, I don't, I live the steps, but all, all, everything that I have done. You know, I'm right now I'm in a Home group. I moved back in the Hermosa Beach area and my Home group is Sunday morning Happy Clam meeting in, in Hermosa Beach when I'm over there. And we started the meeting because the guy owned the bar, called a happy Clam and he

to get sober. And I figure the only way to keep the guy sober is to start a meeting there. And the meeting is huge there. And that's what we do. We start a meeting with a resentment or in a big book and a pot of coffee. I went to another meeting I started about six months ago. I walked in and they changed everything. They damn people

the whole format and every I haven't been there for three or four years and they didn't know who I was see and it and it kind of ticked me off

and they looked at me and I talked to the guy and I said, what are you doing? I said, well, we had a group conscious. That's what Alcoholics Anonymous is. You know, that's that's what we do. And now that I'm over here in this area and in the River Falls, I I like the Wednesday night. We call it Alano. I hear they go. How do you say Alano Alano. We call it Lano Club, but I Wednesday night

in River Falls, Alano club. Alano Alano club

and and I've met Gary and a few other people and and that's really it for me. I really keep it simple, but I've gone through all of it. I've I've enjoyed probably more more than anything is I I enjoy the central office part because I got to get on the phones and I like working with newcomers and I've and that's what was taught to me. Keith Carpenter taught me. He says you always grab a newcomer. You feel like, you know, in a 20 year sobriety on when I almost got drunk, I, you know, the guys were there

sponsored. They pulled me out of that, you know, and, and that's what we do here with it doesn't matter how long, you know, it's, it's what we do. And, and

that's the fellowship and a Home group. I vote a lot. If we have problems in our Home group, we, you know, we'll vote on it. We have to, we'd like to give a, a certain time and we're supposed to give two weeks over there. And, but then the main thing is over in GSR is the main thing is their traditions is to uphold the traditions. And that's, that's really important. So I don't know if I, I touched on it. I, I, I, I wasn't planned. I just want to come up and just

because I'm a Rule 62 on the 4th, 4th edition, boy, I'll tell you if you know what that is. Thank you.

My name is Adam and I'm an alcoholic.

Thank you, John, for asking me to be here today.

I

I got sober five years ago last Saturday.

And five years ago, last Saturday was a Sunday and an awful day. I didn't like it very much at all. Monday I didn't feel much better. And

I didn't know what I was going to do, but I just drinking didn't look like a good solution to me this one day. So I found a phone book and then the phone book was a number for Alcoholics Anonymous. They had an answering service. They gave me a web address. I went to the Public Library, looked up the website, and I found my first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous

on Monday night in Eau Claire. When I got to that meeting, there were about a dozen people that weren't interested in what they wanted to talk about that night. They weren't interested in anything other than there was a guy who looked pretty rough at the front door. They took him in and they did a first step meeting. They shared their experience with alcohol. Their lives sounded a lot like my life, but they didn't look like I felt that day. I I felt rough and they didn't look rough. They look like pretty good people who had things together,

yet they sat everything that was on my mind and in my heart.

They did that for me. It turns out as I've gotten into this thing, that they did it for them too. But I didn't know that then. And it felt pretty good to be a part of that.

So they they didn't ask for anything except that maybe I had another meeting. So I had another meeting on Tuesday and they suggested that I get a sponsor and I did because they again, sounded like I sounded, but didn't look like I felt. And so I did what they did,

and they asked me to go to another meeting. And so I went to another meeting and I started cleaning garbage cans, I think

my first commitment. And I've been a greeter and changed, made coffee, cleaned buck hands. And what all of those things did for me at the beginning was Get Me Out of me, right? Because my head was a disaster area. There was fear, there was insecurity, There was a whole lot of things going on. And if I was worried about the garbage cans, even if I was complaining

about the garbage cans, it was something other than me that I was thinking about. Um,

my sponsor was involved in service. I got into some service, but what I found,

I'll talk just a little bit about that. I guess the first thing, I guess by being a part of other things,

being a part of things other than myself, I'm looking out for other people. I'm not worried about me and I'm becoming useful. One of the things about me is that I was completely useless,

like Dick I, I had all sorts of ideas and all sorts of thoughts and I just sat home and thought about those things

and they didn't produce a lot of fruit. But

but by being involved around people who are working with other people,

it gives me a chance to be useful in some way, even if it's just for coffee, which I also know now is very, very important. Coffee

's

I I dipped my toes into service work and by doing that I found out that, you know, I heard at a meeting not too long ago that this this a guy shared that he wasn't 12 step. We were talking about the 12 step. He wasn't 12 step, nobody, 12 step, this guy, it was a billboard, the 12 step, this guy, right? And

that's what I thought. No one came to my house and got me to a a, it was a phone book, right? It was just a phone book that was there. What I found out by being involved in more than just myself is that there were people that worked very hard to get that number into the phone book. There are people that make a lot of phone calls that make a lot of trips and make a lot of visits to make sure that all of this information is out there for dudes like me to find it. When Mary Jo talked today about the service structure, which I've again had a little experience working with,

what I have found is that everything that those people

at the district level, at the area level at New York, in theory at least, everything they do is aimed at getting guys to our meetings

so that they can find us. That's what it's for. And so my role as a member of a Home group is to have some say in what they find when they get there and what I want them to find when they get there. There's I've had the privilege of attending a diverse collection of groups

and what I have found is that no matter how they're defined, no matter what each Home group does differently or alike, what we're there for is the new guy that comes in that door. They were there for me. And that's the one thing that matter which group I went to, they were there for me.

I wouldn't be here had they not been there for me.

And as a Home group member, I have some say in how my Home group welcomes the new guy that walks through that door.

I believe in sponsorship. I was sponsored and I was helped to understand the 12 steps of All Clocks Anonymous by working that with a sponsor because that was valuable to me because I believe I'm a better person for that than when I attend my Home group. I need to raise my hand when they ask about sponsorship. If anyone here is willing to be a sponsor, I have to put my hand up because that's huge for me and it can be huge for other people. By being involved in service, I've learned that a friend of mine from Eau Claire pointed out

saying that

service work in AAA is like a professional football game. There's 22 people on the field who were working very hard and could really use a brake and 65,000 people watching who could probably use some exercise

and that's really that.

It's a brilliant saying, but it's true. There's a lot of people watching this. Mary Jo said that we have to have thick skin to do this and that's a shame. It's true, but it's a shame. There's a very small percentage of people that stand up to do this and they get whipped for it. But what's important is that we provide a nurturing environment for the other people who maybe wouldn't be willing to do that, because it is. It's changed my life, it's made me up. People would argue about how useful,

but I have a feeling of worth in any case,

and that's been huge for me. I had a huge ego where I believed I was capable of many things. I had no problem going places in shaking hands and I had always expected you to Remember Me,

but I didn't feel like I was worth anything. And that's been huge for me to feel like I've done something today

that maybe help somebody besides me. In our book, I'm lucky enough to be working with a guy right now and we just started working with others and it says in there, and I never quote anything accurately, but basically the point is, is that what we have to do, what I have to do in my life is put others interest before my own. That the welfare of other people needs to come before my own, the people who put their own welfare

aside. My sponsor gave up nights, he gave up Sundays,

sometimes he gave up football Sundays to meet with me, and he didn't ask for anything except that I extend my hand to the next guy. The Home group is the 1st place I do that. None of the rest of this service work is possible. I don't believe I never would have found any of the rest of this fellowship. I wouldn't have found the people. Most of the people I know here I know through this service work, and I wouldn't have found that if I wasn't a part of a group that cared very much for my welfare.

That's it. Thanks.

All right. Do we have any questions on the Home group for these three gentlemen?

See how well you did, guys? Oh, oh, yeah. OK, Mike,

I well, it sounds like a lot of you guys ended up being the Home group was the first meeting you want to.

But if I was moving or I just come back in that box on this and I was looking for a longer how how would I find a good Home group? What do you think is a yeah, I'm looking for a good hunger like I do. I'm a good person.

My name is Adam. I'm an alcoholic.

Umm, that question is going to vary I suppose by who answers it. But my personal belief is that especially if you have some sobriety, looking for a Home group should be second to what you can offer a Home group. If I go to a meeting and I think it's an okay meeting, then I go there and bring it. Bring to it what I think I have to offer and make it what I'd like it to be. And if they don't want it then I can look other way other places. But if I go to a meeting

and they don't raise their hand for sponsorship, but they're not interested in sponsorship, I can leave it

and let it be a place that isn't interested in sponsorship. Or I can be the one hand that goes up so that if people were there looking for sponsorship, there's at least one guy that's got his hand in the air. I took all of my life from wherever I went. I was a parasite on the lives of other people, and I don't want to go the rest of my life being a parasite on other things as well. If there's something useful for me, thank God. If not, I should probably try and bring something useful to it. That's fine,

Dick. Alcoholic

from my experience, if I, if I move to a new area, I would start going to as many meetings as, as I possibly could, especially with some sobriety

in traveling. I had two brothers out near Seattle and when I go out there and there's so many meetings and you, I didn't know anyone to ask, well, what are good meetings or big meetings or little meetings or you know, I just had a take a shot at it based on time of day and what day of the week. And so I went to a number of meetings out there and all the meetings were good, but some were very small

and, and we're kind of just read a little something out of the, the book or the 12:00 and 12:00 then share a little something in. And

and yet I went to this one meeting out of the three and I knew within 10 minutes that if I was moving to that area, I would have been comfortable with that group because

it, it was very similar to what I had experienced when I got sober, that they had someone who was reporting on going to the district. They had someone that was mentioning to the group about don't forget the

two weeks. Friday is our monthly

campfire meeting up on the mountain and everyone goes, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring your brats. You know, they were doing their active, doing fun things outside the meetings. They were very animated in the meetings. They were. I heard right away that they're involved in service.

They, the few people I talked to right away we're talking about the, the key focus on sponsorship and being sponsored and commitments. They each had little commitments at the meetings to help the meeting. So anyway, I just would encourage people go to as many people, many meetings as you can.

And at least my experience was I kind of knew right away probably what though, which one of those meetings would be a good fit for me.

I'm neo alcoholic. Classic example. When I came here, I, I went to a few meetings. I felt comfortable in that one meeting, simple as that. And it was, it seemed like it was active and the people were, you know, when I, I, when I did go years ago when I moved to San Diego.

Yeah, my sponsor to always told me, he says, you know, I don't know about this meeting, man, I don't know. He says, well, why don't you make it to me? Make it your meeting. Do what you have to do that. And I did that and I still felt uncomfortable. So I started my own meeting. You know, that's what I said, a resentment and a big book and, you know, pot of coffee. But over River Falls I feel very comfortable and and and God works in mysterious ways with me.

If it feels good, don't fight it. Go ahead.

So the question is if you go to a meeting and you find it click ish or standoffish or not inviting, what do you do?

I'm neo alcoholic. I'll tell you what I do as simple as I what I do. I've been taught over the years in alcohol tsunamis. I put my hand out and go shake if they like it or not.

And I get, I get, you know, I that's what I do. And to make myself because I'm a type of person, a alcoholic feels odd going to maybe meetings yet. And when I first got a newcomer, you know, I didn't feel, you know, I felt odd. And, and now that I've been sober for a while, I mean, that's what we do.