AAlcohol... what a pretty poison.

Today, I went to an Alcoholic's Anonymous meeting. And, contrary to what you may assume, it wasn't for personal reasons, but just to observe. And observe I did!
There was a strange mixture of people there that I hadn't expected, but the meeting's agenda was pretty much what I had anticipated. As the people around the table sat and talked about their own experiences of alcoholism, and as they all took it in turn to read from the 'Big Book', I realised something. The way in which the AA members were applying themselves in order to recover could possibly be related to life in general, for anyone.
The Big Book basically described how to overcome alcoholism, and seemed to play an integral part to the meeting, and to Alcoholic's Anonymous in general, it also seemed to resemble the Bible in the way that it was written. There was also 12 guidelines; the 12 step programme that members needed to follow as part of the recovery process.
As everyone talked about their own experiences and thoughts, I realised that one thing they all had in common was that they were so grateful to have the opportunity to speak, and so thankful that everyone listened to what they had to say.
The main topic for this meeting was making amends, apologising to those they had offended, upset, and even stole from, when they were drinking. One member said that in order for them to spiritually move forward, and to be completely happy, he had to let go of any lies he has told in the past, so that he could have a clear mind and move on.
The path to sobriety sounds very similar to a path one might take to gain spiritual growth. A lot of people at the meeting seemed to be quite in tune with their own downfalls, their own mistakes and why they have happened. Many of them were refreshingly honest about their past, and in some cases, present. One member said that, although she had disappointed people because of her drinking habit, instead of saying 'sorry', she just stopped drinking and changed her behaviour, showing the importance of actions and not words.
I thought that I would come away from the experience depressed, full of horror stories and an urge never to drink again. But instead, it had a positive impact. The people I met were so grateful to be there, so thankful to share their experiences and have a chance to be  positive. To have gone through such a difficult time, and to have been strong enough to fight an addiction, it must be such a rush to be able to talk about it so openly. Okay, so there was one woman there who was a little bit on the drunk side, but I'm sure she'll remember parts of the meeting in the morning. I'm aware that this is quite a cheesy blog post, but I'm sure you'd understand if you had been there, too.
Everyone needs some sort of guidance to follow, something to focus on, to tell you what to do when you're out of ideas. And that's what the Big Book does.
I'm not sure about you, but I could certainly do with a book that tells me what to do with my life. I'd never, ever put it down.