Beginning in 1981, I attended up to as many as fifteen meetings per week for over a year before I finally found someone who could actually help me do what is actually shared and suggested in the A.A. Big Book. I already knew my drinking had been a mere symptom (and not the cause) of my problem of not being able to manage my own life successfully (Step One) and I knew the book was about learning a completely new manner of living (Step Two)...but most of what I heard in most meetings was in conflict with what is shared in the book and I could not sort that all out on my own. If you have yet to find someone who can show you "precisely how we have [permanently] recovered" (Foreword to First Edition), send me a PM and I can put you in touch with someone who can.