Attending an AA Meeting
A while back, I joined a few Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings to gain a greater understanding of how people navigate successfully through hardships in life. I wanted to develop a greater compassion for people who struggle with some of the darkest demons of humanity. I wanted to learn new skills and thought processes that would aid my efforts to cope with my own existence.
The people at these meetings are regular people. They are humans who live, laugh, love, and lose, just like everyone else. And they possess a strength unlike any I have seen before. They are fierce in their desire to live a life free from substance abuse.
People who attend AA for long periods of time understand that it takes dedication and commitment to ones self to persevere and overcome life’s obstacles. They wake up every single day and battle the same demons. Looking to others for support and guidance is accepted as a norm. They recognized that their life became unmanageable and that they must walk the steps every day of their existence to maintan their sobriety.
Correlation from My Own Life Experience
My life had become also unmanageable, but with different circumstances. I have spent a lifetime enduring depression, anxiety, codependency, and PTSD from the perpetual trauma I have endured. My life has never been perfect. Quite honestly, it has often been far from it. In the few visits with these extraordinarily strong individuals, I realized that I, too, can be strong and dedicated to overcoming my life’s obstacles. I, too, can choose the path to peace by having the wisdom to know the difference between the things I can and cannot change. I, too, have power over my own life.
It was time to become dedicated to rebuilding my life – and so it began.
Until next time…
Love and peace,
Jessica <3
