“Meetings are so boring!”
“I didn’t get sober just to spend the rest of my life going to meetings!”
“Why do I have to go to so many meetings anyway?
These are just a few of the many statements I’ve heard over time from other sober individuals when it comes to attending the meetings. While I can definitely relate to those who feel this way because I once felt just like them quite a bit too, I realize today how crucial the meetings are to maintaining a healthy recovery.
Do you think a diabetic enjoys taking Insulin shots every day?
Do you think a cancer patient enjoys getting their chemotherapy treatment each week?
Do you think someone with kidney disease enjoys doing dialysis regularly?
The fact is each of them must continue doing their treatments to prevent themselves from getting sick. Well this same principle applies to a person who’s trying to remain clean and sober from a former addiction like myself.
Going to a recovery meeting is like taking my medicine to get healthier in sobriety. There, I sit amongst like-minded people who have struggled and suffered at the same hands of my disease. Often, by me just showing up, it frequently becomes enough of a dose for me to stave off the craziness of my disease for another day. And by craziness, I mean things such as negative thinking, self-pity, and the doldrums that can occasionally happen in sobriety.
In all honesty, I went for years without meetings because I allowed those ego-based thoughts about not needing them to drive me away. I once truly thought they were overly boring and at times extremely annoying. But I never saw how sick I became in not going to them. I never saw how selfish and self-centered I became the more I avoided them. And I never saw how my disease slowly crept back in the more I stayed away from them.
Just imagine for a moment what it would be like for a cancer patient if they suddenly stopped doing their chemotherapy treatments before they were actually supposed to. Initially it might be ok for them, but the likelihood is that their cancer will eventually come back, spread, and grow even worse. It’s really not that different for any of us in recovery.
Going to a meeting is part of the medicine we need to keep taking on a regular basis in life. Add in practicing the 12 Steps and connecting to a Higher Power each day, and that’s all the medicine we really need to remain healthy in sobriety.
So I accept now that recovery meetings are going to be a part of my life until the day I die. Because anytime I’ve ever found myself making statements such as “Meetings are so boring!” I most likely have already stopped taking my medicine by not going to them, and probably don’t even realize just how sick I’ve become…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson