Do you want to get well? Do you want to overcome those addictions that are giving you so much pain? Do you want to embrace a way of living that will give your life meaning and purpose and love? Why wait?
Thirty-four years ago I came late to this conclusion with a shove from my psychiatrist in Boulder, Colorado. After a couple of sessions, he told me he couldn’t fix me and recommended I stop wasting his time and go to Alcoholics Anonymous that very day. I balked, he insisted and that evening I found myself in my first AA meeting on Pearl Street.
To get to it, I had to do some research. Like making two phone calls, checking the weather (it was beginning to snow) and getting a map. It seemed huge at the time. Today, it’s even easier. Help is a couple of clicks away on your smart phone. And don’t tell me you don’t have one.
If its 9 a.m. in Little Rock, Arkansas, where I live, you can find an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting by noon and a meal to go with it. Just Google AA and you will find your meeting and 170,000 others around the world.
Under this “resources” section of our One Day a Time site we have provided links to a variety of basic 12 Step sites including AA, Alanon, NA (Narcotics Anonymous), CA (Cocaine Anonymous) and Celebrate Recovery, a Christ centered program. I also recommend the Substance abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) site for meetings and other resources. Chances are high you will be able to find a meeting that convenes that day.
What if you are a churchgoer? If so, are 12 step programs for you? Absolutely. The fact is, the 12 Steps are taken from the Bible and require us to surrender and follow the steps as the foundation of our recovery.
When I began my journey to recovery, the higher power in my life mentioned in step one soon became Jesus Christ. Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the founders of AA, were professed Christians and some of those of Christian faith have been leaders in dealing with alcohol addiction. The established Salvation Army and Union Rescue Mission programs, for example, come quickly to mind, and Rick Warren’s highly successful Celebrate Recovery program founded over 20 years ago is a new addition.
It should also be said that AA and the other major 12 step programs refer to God four times in their steps, and adherents are perfectly free to select Jesus Christ as their “higher power” as called for in the first step.
The fact is, there are not enough purely Christian programs—like Celebrate Recovery–to meet the need for meetings. Also, a vital component of meetings is reconnecting and forming relationships and that often takes a meeting a day.
Unfortunately, a number of churches have chosen to avoid the addiction issue, but this is changing. Witness Rick Warren’s Saddle Back church and the Celebrate Recovery program.
I have given you the basics but will continue to add other resources as I come across them. We hope visitors to this site will do the same.
Just to get the ball rolling, here are two sites that are decidedly “offbeat” for your consideration.
The other night, I came across “The 12 Step Café,” a huge compendium of chat rooms and sites, more than 60 of them. It includes basic programs like AA, CA, NA, and Alanon, some that are mildly interesting and some that are downright troubling. I refer here to Sexual Compulsives Anonymous and HESHE (Help everyone share healthy emotion) Anonymous.
The 12 Step Café, a for-profit company, warns that children under 18 should not visit the site. This warning should be applied to children of all ages.
We, at ODAT, have a special interest in providing resources for three population groups– teens, veterans and prison inmates—and they too should build on the basics. But we also continue to look for other sites that may be useful.
Our current entry is a satirical web site for veterans, reported on the front page of the Wall Street Journal called “the Duffle Blog.” It is the creation of Paul Szoldra, a 29-year-old Marine Corps veteran, who began with serious intent but morphed into something like the Onion.
Here are a couple of headlines and leads from the Duffle Blog:
• Predator drone nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
• Sources confirmed that Southern Command closed its doors today after failing to win the war on drugs for the billionth time since its inception in 1963.
• Nidal Hasan says he’s Amish in last ditch effort to save beard.
• Pentagon proposes controversial policy assigning ranks to military spouses.
• Sailor spontaneously combusts after cutting across grass in uniform.
• Marine Corps struggles to keep up with massive influx of female volunteers.
