Receiving mis-inform information

[Jay Bee]

Have you ever receive mis-inform information in the rooms ? If so , please share it with me please.:confused:

[sioux]

Wish you would elaborate a little more or cite a specific situation. I am not certain what you are talking about...mythology in recovery perhaps? Statements that cannot be rectified with our respective literature?

Sioux

[Leadfoot]

Don't get me started on what we hear in the rooms.
Don't drink and go to meetings. Wrong!
Go to 90 meetings in 90 days. Wrong!
No dating for a year. Wrong!
Your prescription meds invalidates your sobriety. Wrong!
Take what you need and leave the rest. Wrong!
Use that tree outside for your HP. Wrong!
I like this better. From the 1940 preamble.

I wish to remind you that whatever is said at
this meeting expresses our own individual opinion as of today and as of up
to this moment. We do not speak for A.A. as a whole and you are free to
agree or disagree as you see fit, in fact, it is suggested that you pay no
attention to anything which might not be reconciled with what is in the
A.A.Big Book.

[Jay Bee]

I just wanted to know if any have receive a diluted message in the rooms. Not talking about the literature , because the literature never lies. Im talking about, the individual , who put their own twist to the literature. When they say the literature says this , that , and the other. Then when i do the research , the literature is'nt saying this , that and the other, ect, ect. Just wanted know if others feel the same way I feel, thank you.

[skyhook]

I have found this Forum to include some of the most thoughtful and insightful members I have ever encountered.

I am thankful that their are many paths to recovery and they are freely presented here through the undeniable prism of each experience shared. I don't know of any book that encompassses all of mans questions and answers, for to do so would exclude the chemistry of faith coupled with action,,,whose outcome is as unique as a fingerprint.

To me, denial is the most obvious misinformation that will tread through here and for obvious reasons. It blesses me to see how members will walk folk through this issue with the love and caring typically reserved for mothers with their young. Truly inspiring.

[sioux]

Okay....clear. The stuff mentioned earlier by other posters, I call that AA Mythology.

My biggest peeve is when I hear people say "a slow growth is a healthy growth" or "I work a step a year" or "my sponsor took me through the steps too fast and now I have to do them over" and "wait until you master being sober before you begin the step work."

Our AA literature states that Bill W. "ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my new found-Friend take them away, root and branch." He goes on to talk about a friend coming to see him and he "acquainted him with my problems and deficiences. We made a list of the people I had hurt or toward whom I felt resentment." He was detoxing in the hospital at that time. He hadn't "mastered sobriety."

Sounds to me like Bill W. took all the steps in a short period of time, and terms like "ruthlessly" don't mean "when I was ready, cozy or comfy."

Also, "We" indicates to me that Bill W. didn't sit down with pen and paper alone. Doubt he could have written at all with the shakes. Together he and his buddy made out the list. I have tried to do this with sponsees over the years. Many are surprised, especially those that have "been through this before" that they don't necessarily need a month or two to write out an inventory. I have helped them start with the "***** list" of names, showed them how to map out their resentments, done a lot of it together with them. I have asked them to be thorough and willing to address resentments as they come up if they cannot recall them.

And from that inventory during the confessional process, I have drawn up a list of the folks they need to make amends to.

I don't get where it started to become such a lengthy and "painful" process. I was anxious to get on with the business of living life fully, and I knew that I couldn't do that with this monster hanging in my shadows. Sweet freedom!

[Mycool]

I wish to remind you that whatever is said at
this meeting expresses our own individual opinion as of today and as of up
to this moment. We do not speak for A.A. as a whole and you are free to
agree or disagree as you see fit, in fact, it is suggested that you pay no
attention to anything which might not be reconciled with what is in the
A.A.Big Book

Thanks for sharing this. It's a thought about personal responsibility for evaluating one's truth. You are the final authority in terms of whom you give credence to and how to live your life. Turning over this authority to anyone else is a kind of spiritual laziness. You’ll be disinclined to pay careful and critical attention to what’s actually going on, and you’ll be left wide open to being manipulated, misled, and scammed…In the end, it comes down to this: authority, which is yours already, rests only with direct experience. Ultimately, there is no other place to look.—Steve Hagen

Namaste

[skyhook]

Are all higher powers equal ?

Do you think people can choose weaker ones than another, and maybe that leads to extended step study and ultimate recovery? Since the HP is essentially private matter, maybe a study would show which HP's produce greater fruit in recovery. Maybe the study will show no difference at all, in which case, what would the point be, if they are interchangable ?

"Your results may vary", written on the HP display box ?

It just seems to me that all the other steps are fairly straight forward, with the exception of HP selection. Seems like a mixed bag. Curious.

[Jay Bee]

Thank you's for the feedback , I hear some of the outrage's stuff in the room's....Here one for you , ( I've fired my sponsor ) , Im wondering where did they get that from.

[skyhook]

Thank you's for the feedback , I hear some of the outrage's stuff in the room's....Here one for you , ( I've fired my sponsor ) , Im wondering where did they get that from.

watching donald trump's, "the apprentice"?:mrgreen:

[clean42day]

lol - I liked that answer.... Donald Trump.....lmao - :11:

talked to my sponsor about this early on......She told me there are no rules in AA - only suggestions = one drunk helping another navigate the literature, the steps, and sharing their own life expereince. I think the message gets twisted when people engage thier ego's and start telling eachother what to do - instead of sharing what they did.


Same thing in NA....

my bottom line rule is : just for today I don't drink or use drugs no matter what - and I might get a really good shot at staying clean tomorrow too. and the only way I can do that is stay spiritually fit and rely on a power greater than myself - been working for 6.5 years now.

I also believe a lot of the "recovery mythology" actually came from the treatment centers.....and the AA/NA boundaries became blurred.

oh well - :162:What do we expect when we walk into a meeting with a bunch of AA drunks or NA drug addicts? a room full of socially well adjusted people who follow suggestions real well????? lmao..... :lol: Some of it I chalk up to cheap entertainment.....other times I pray for them....but no matter what - I take my sponsee's through both books and ask them to internalize it for themselves...and then see what they come up with.

it does also say "we realize we only know a little....more will be revealed" my sponsee's have revealed ways of thinking and percieving to me - that have enhanced my own recovery.....as always I too have to keep and open mind and remain teachable. The message of AA is in the book - but it is not the end all and be all.....it is a springboard....to be "roceted into a new dimension".

light and love

Gail

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j224/gail_ve/recovery/moments.gif

[Joplinfrk]

I have received some wonderful and helpful information in the rooms and I have also been horrified by some of the things I have heard in the rooms. I think it's all really subjective. Just my two cents.