Well, after over twenty years in Recovery, your MoM did something new last night. I went to my very first AA meeting. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for years, but have never had things go the way I felt was necessary in order for that to happen. Most importantly among my list of reasons was that I have never had a struggle with alcohol so I didn’t feel that it was my place to be there. Most importantly among my list of reasons for going was that one of the people leading the meeting was personally inviting me to join him.

It was all very textbook. I got to the parking lot and sat in my car scanning the other cars for someone familiar. I didn’t want to walk through the door alone. Seeing no one that I recognized, I made the next textbook move and texted my guy. “Hey, I’m here, where are you?” That sort of thing. In keeping with our Hollywood script he didn’t reply. As time passed and the start time drew near I came to a decision point. Do I sit in my car some more and risk being the late guy? Do I just go on home and chalk it up to the winds of fate? Or do I get off my duff and walk through the door. I chose the latter.

Sure enough, the room, was filled with unfamiliar faces. My guy wasn’t inside. Even worse, people had sat in a pattern that left an empty seat between each person. There was no place for a shy newcomer to sneak in without being noticed. Then I saw a guy I knew. Not the one I expected, but it was a familiar face in a scary place. That is a tiny slice of Heaven.

As the meeting went on I found it to be a comfortable and inviting place. I enjoyed listening to people share from their life. Shoot, my “guy” even rolled up about 10 or 15 minutes late! He didn’t see me, so during his share time he mentioned that he expected someone to be there tonight, but was disappointed not to see them. We laughed about that after the meeting.

The point is that it wasn’t painful to try out a new meeting. If you’re struggling, I’m surer there is a meeting of some sort near you. Go in, sit down, and…

–Rise Up!!