Recently a client came up to me and asked “Do you still got to meetings after being sober for so long?” I saw the pained look on his face when I answered “Of course, where do you think the so long comes from?” I know he didn’t want to hear that – his thought process was this “these meetings are kind of a pain, but someday I’ll be sober and won’t have to go anymore.” I, unfortunately, have seen too many alcoholics who after a time thought that they didn’t need to go to meetings anymore. As one of them told me (shortly before his relapse), “Mike, I have taken all the drinking, the chaos, and the insanity and turned them over to my Higher Power, and I don’t have to worry about them anymore.” Wow! What a deal! I never heard my Higher Power volunteer to take all of my crap; that has always been my responsibility. I find that meetings are a good way to remind me of what that responsibility is. I had a bad day not long ago, and I ran into an old friend that I hadn’t seen in years. I wanted to ask him “Do you still go to meetings?” But I didn’t because I already knew the answer.
…I won’t ask.
