The basic plank, on which the entire Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) movement stands, is sponsorship. Unlike the meaning of the term as it is understood in marketing, sponsorship in AA means the help and guidance that a participant, who has been part of the program for around a year, provides to a newcomer. Such help is invaluable in helping the newcomers settle down in the program. In other words, s/he is your friend, philosopher and guide in helping you understand and follow the steps of AA. For a newcomer in an AA meeting, it may be daunting to properly understand the 12 steps process but it will get easier if you have a sponsor to guide you.
Alcoholism in California
Alcoholism arises from excessive or binge drinking and in this matter, California has a lesser percentage of cases at 24.7% compared to the US national average of 25.2%. This is nothing to write home about and both the national and California state average needs to go down drastically. Are you based in California and have a problem with the bottle that you want to get rid of?
Just check out the AA meeting locator online and find the nearest Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Your life will change for good once you attend such a meeting. However, it would be really helpful for you to have a sponsor from amongst the veterans in such meetings show you the way toward de-addiction and share his/her experience at AA.
It begins with a humble acceptance
There is a learning curve in all local AA meetings and you will have to be patient for the results. You became an alcoholic over years of excessive drinking and if you expect to kick the habit overnight, that is going to be difficult. However, if you begin with the humble acceptance that you had lost control of yourself under the influence of alcohol, it will be a good beginning.
Such acceptance is necessary to soften up the self-righteous stubbornness in your mind that all alcoholics have in some degree. It prevents an alcoholic from thinking rationally about the ill-effects of excessive drinking. When you find a sponsor, this is exactly what s/he will advise you before you are initiated into the program.
Follow the 12 steps of AA and trust the Lord
The 12 steps of AA are basically the rule of thumb that you must follow on your path of progression towards de-addiction. Have faith in the Lord to show you the way and before long you will be able to get the habit out of your system. There are different AA meetings in California that deal with the different requirements of the participants.
For instance, there are meetings for beginners where they cover just the first 3 of the 12 steps. Then, there are meetings for participants who have progressed to the higher steps and for participants who want to explore the spiritual side of abstinence through meditation. Some participants just want to attend meetings of the same gender. In fact, there are different genres of AA meetings for the different requirements of participants. If you are looking for an AA meeting near you, just visit AA-Meetings.com which comes equipped with an instant locator right on the home page.
click here for more interesting articles
