I recently attended an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a comfortable house in Santa Monica, California. The room was occupied by approximately 70 attendees, and even more sitting on the outside porch. The focus of this particular day’s meeting was step six of the 12-step program. The sixth step is stated as follows: “We’re entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character” (Wilson, 1939, p. 76). Following the definition and interpretation of the sixth step, the main speaker of the day came up to the podium to tell her story. This woman was a recovering alcoholic and ex-heroin user. She had been sober for 14 years before she relapsed, and as of now she has been sober for 16 years. She explained that she has struggled with alcohol…
James Cash Penney opened his first store located in Kemmerer Wyoming in 1902, at the age of 25. The first store was opened in partnership between Penney, T.M Callahan and Guy Johnson as a ‘cash only’ store, refusing to take mining script or extend credit. Investing his entire savings of $500, Penney had to borrow $1,500 and was cautioned against his ‘cash only’ policy, as other stores in mining towns had been failing. The store was a success in spite of bankers warnings earning $28,898 in sales. Within two years Penney bought out Callahan and Johnson, and Penney had taken over their three other stores. Expanding rapidly, by 1915 there were 83 stores and by 1917 there were 175. Currently there are over 1,200 with over 205,000 employees stores ranging from the all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, Mexico and Chile, the company is currently headquartered in Plano Texas.…
Peachtree is an accounting software program sold by Sage, whose parent company is the Sage Group. The software is geared for use by small- to medium-sized businesses and has progressed through several generations over the years since its conception. Initially, Peachtree was sold by Peachtree Software, a company that was established in 1978. Peachtree accounting software was acquired by the Sage Group in 1998.…
All of the following stimuli cause the scrotum to draw closer to the body except ________. Answer…
Explain at least two ways in which systems theory may be used in the Social Security Administration. You may want to refer back to Week 1 e-Activity of Franklin Roosevelt’s speech on Social Security as a historical reference.…
Alcoholics Anonymous is an organisation dedicated to helping people recover from alcoholism. Open meetings are open to anyone, while closed meetings are only open for recovering alcoholics. Meetings are about one hour long. A major component of AA are the twelve steps as outlined in The Big Book:…
My second group observation called Hope Seekers Group, Initiated with the facilitator Nadine introducing the new members that were joining for the first time. Nadine started by reading the declaration of Unity. “This we owe to A.A.’s future to place our common welfare first; to keep our fellowship united. For on A.A. unity depend our lives, and the lives of those to come.” She also advised the new comers that they were responsible for seeking help if they ever felt the need to drink and to consult with a sponsor for support during their struggles. During the meeting the members alongside Nadine were also celebrating one year of sobriety for a member named Cassandra. Cassandra was asked to share her story with the group and the newcomers, with…
1. I did not really know what exactly to expect before the meeting, because I never been to a AA meeting and I was kind of excited to go and hear peoples stories about their addictions and dependency.…
I attended an Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A) meeting, I felt in love with those meeting. I attended a meeting on April 23 at 6 pm. Location 1773 Griffith Park Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. A.A membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence the may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. Membership to ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation. This particular AA group was mix, men, women, young people, doctors, gays and others. They were all alcoholics, seek help, have different profession.…
Walking into the AA meeting made me feel very awkward and out of place, but as the meeting began and everyone started sharing their stories I began to feel comfortable about being there. When I first went in the room the chairs were set up in a circle with some on the outside of it. I decided to take a seat on the outside so I wouldn’t be of focus during the meeting. They started the meeting off with reading some inspirational words and then reading the 12 steps. Their focus tonight was on a higher power and how believing in that higher power helps you stay sober. After brief introductions and stating their names, they began discussion and whoever wanted to speak had the opportunity to do so. Listening to all of their stories was really interesting. Almost all of the members have been sober for at least 30 days and more and about four people were just recently sober, with one being sober only three days now. One of the member’s stories really stood out to me. He said that he has been an alcoholic for years now, but always believed he can cure himself and control how many drinks he has. He mentioned that he went out last week with his buddies and wasn’t able to stop himself from going overboard with the drinking. He said he was in a blackout for four days and lost his job. That’s why he ended up at the treatment center; he said he realized that it isn’t possible to be a social drinker when you are an alcoholic. During his story he explained how he had the shakes and the classic withdrawal symptoms and I began to think about what I had learned in class and related it. Another member’s story was about social drinking. She said that her friend was coming home that she knew from college and wanted to get together. She thought about the friendship and realized that she wasn’t a friend and that she was just an old party buddy. She explained that she has a whole new group of sober friends that she hangs out with and that she can’t hang out with her old friends of whom she…
To sit in front of people, some strangers and to reveal so much of yourself and whole heartedly trust. Al-Anon is not just about coping with a loved one who has an alcohol or drug addition, it’s so much more. It is about self-discovery, strength, taking control of one’s life because we are powerless over others. I was amazed how the group session went without a “leader” and how everyone shared in the readings and conversation. Although Al-Anon is more complex and I only went one time, I found it to be a truly emotional experience. A member quoted said, “I did not cause it, I can not cure it, and I can’t control it.” Strong phrase that will stick with me. (personal communication,…
I attended an A.A. meeting on April 5, 2010. Before the meeting I seemed very anxious. This was not my first meeting I have been to meetings before but they all seem to make me nervous. When I arrived the nervousness had eased off because everyone had made me feel welcomed. I was made to feel like a part of their family from the beginning to the end of the meeting. I seemed to have realized I missed going to these meetings and I miss the fellowship but it has not interfered with me staying sober.…
The Higher Power gives us “faith,” “the will,” and “freedom to exist” without the consumption of alcohol and the negativity that comes with the behavior. At times, you may feel like giving up hope on yourself, believing that you are not worth receiving support or having feelings of despair, angst, and difficulty facing up to societal standards. However, in this program, it is not the case; we are “here” to guide you through your addiction, by encouraging you to believe in the Higher Power or GOD, through conscious awareness, and to make you a stronger and determined individual. In order for sobriety, it takes discipline, perseverance, and motivation to overcome these struggles with constant reminders of how addiction ruined your life. However, you have the right to live addiction free in the “here and now,” rather than living “miserably” and alone in this world. Throughout Alcoholics Anonymous, you will begin to see that there is “light” at the end of the addiction behavior there is hope, freedom, and that you have the “strength” and “courage” to live. During this process, we hope you will find true peace and happiness you so richly deserve, by ending your alcoholism or addiction behavior;…
They were very welcoming and friendly. When the meeting started a man starting talking about his addiction, how it was ruining his life, and everything he went through to work towards sobriety. He told the group that his last drink was 9 years ago. He was very inspirational and told everyone in the meeting that we are all equals, we do not judge anyone, and to not be ashamed of who you are. I felt like he made everyone that was listening become very comfortable. He told everyone that we are all going through the same thing and we are here to support each other. He was also referring to that we have to believe in a higher power to end this addiction and focused it around the 12-steps. He spoke for about 20 minutes, then we came together as a group. In the group, every person went around and introduced themselves if they were comfortable with doing so. They would talk about their addiction, problems, cravings they have, etc. It was very interactive, everyone would participate and give feedback and input to each…
I must admit I had some reservations attending an AA meeting even though it was for school/research purposes. I’ve always felt these meetings are for the weak people who do not have enough courage and desire to square up to their problems. My skepticism of the Alcoholic Anonymous arose from watching the effect of alcoholism on families, relationships, children etc. and I always felt that these meetings were a way for alcoholics to self-validate their actions and decisions, neglecting the harm and hurt they might have caused others, especially family members. This skepticism of mine remained as I made my way into an AA open meeting as a visitor, for the sake of gaining a better perspective into the purpose of the meetings, the methods utilized…