I would go with you if I could.

Meetings are different everywhere. I can tell you what it was like when I first went.

At all of the meetings I've ever been to, they open with the Serenity Prayer. Its not a religious prayer, so don't let any talk of God and higher powers scare you. But the serenity prayer in case you don't know it is as follows:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

So, everyone says that and then they begin the meeting. They'll read the AA preamble, which just explains what we do. Then they'll ask about announcements, and they'll ask if there are any newcomers who would like to intruduce themselves. I didn't do this at my first meeting. You don't have to speak up, but if you do....then the people there know you're new and want help. You'd just say, "I'm Christine and I'm an alcoholic." You can even just say "I"m Christine" if you're not ready to say you're an alcoholic. (You typed it here, good for you! Its hard to say in public though, but you get used to it.)

Depending on the type of meeting, they might hand out chips. If they do, the first chip will be the 24 hour chip. It's free and I'd suggest you get one. Its something to hang on to, I still keep my current chip and a 24 hour chip in my pocket, because though I might have 2 years, all we have is today, so I keep a 24 hour chip on me all the time.

The meetings could be a speaker meeting, in this case, someone will tell their story and you listen for the similarities. Sometimes there's discussion afterwards. It could be a discussion meeting where people will just talk. Or it could be a literature or steps meeting, in this case they might read from books and then discuss.

The only thing you need to do is sit in a chair and listen. See if its for you. Get there early and if you can, walk up to a woman and say its your first meeting. If you can't, grab a chair and most likely someone will say hi because you won't be a familiar face.

I smoked so I met a lot of people before the meeting having a cigarette. After the meeting, stay for 5 or 10 minutes and talk to women. Get phone numbers.

People might offer you the literature. We use the bigbook titled Alcoholics Anonymous. Most meetings sell them at cost, its not to make money. If you can't afford it, tell them that and someone will cover it. My first books were free.

Try to have an open mind. Look around and see all the people sober and HAPPY. Thats what struck me when I was new.

At the end of the meeting, they'll get in a circle and hold hands and either repeat the Serenity Prayer or the Lord's Prayer.

Again, it is NOT religious. You'll see the word God in the steps on the walls, and this puts many people off. Its not religion. Its spiritual. We all find some kind of higher power. Its whatever you want it to be. Some people say God stands for Group Of Drunks.

Don't worry about any of that. Just go to the meeting and see if you can meet some women who have what you want. If you can, let the group know you're knew. Thats what I did, and it was like they helped carry me through the first few weeks.

Just because you go to one meeting doesn't mean you have to stay forever. Go, check it out, and see if you can relate to anything said.

If you hate it, you hate it lol. But you might still want to go back, or try a different meeting.

Folks might go out for coffee or food after the meeting. If they invite you, go. My first thought when people invited me was that they had to be nice to me cuz I was trying to get sober lol. But people in AA are generally just friendly and like hanging out with other sober people. If you go though, you broaden your network of sober friends to call when you're having a rough time.

I can't think of anything else right now....oh if they call on you and you don't want to talk, just say "I'll pass". And like I said, get there a little early and leave a little late, the women will most likely approach you to see if they can help and this can be scary lol. But those of us who are sober can only keep it if we give it away and help someone else.

The newcomer is the most important person in the room at a meeting.

Ok I can't think of anything else for reals now haha.

OH! You might see on the meeting list that there are newcomer meetings and young people meetings. Those would be good for you. There are a lot of young people getting sober, and I didn't realize this until I went to my first young people's meeting.

Ok, I'm done, seriously lol.