No longer alone & My experience of the Helpline
No longer alone
When I walked into my first AA meeting, I noticed a banner hanging behind the top table which said, “You are no longer alone.” That banner and the welcome I received nearly moved me to tears. For the last few years of my drinking, I was no longer welcome at friends’ houses nor social gatherings. My family despaired of me and I was barred from all the local pubs – not that I would have gone anyway. My self-esteem was so low that I no longer had the confidence to communicate with other human beings. I had isolated myself in my flat, only going out to walk the dog to the nearest off-licence. At that first meeting I had a feeling of hope that perhaps there was a solution and “I need never drink again.”
At my home group as I open the meeting, I hope I can now extend a similar warm welcome and repeat the suggestions I heard about how to stay away from the first drink. So long as I keep attending AA meetings regularly and practise the 12 Step Programme to the best of my ability, I know that I am no longer alone.
Jean G
Wednesday Morning, Rose Street, Glasgow
My experience of the Helpine
I had the Helpline number long before I used it. Even when I used it, I really just wanted sympathy, or someone to listen. I didn’t want to stop drinking but I wanted my head to be quiet. But one day in a mess of self-pity, sobbing and crying, I did phone the Helpline. I just remember this calm, clear, quiet voice saying over and over “It doesn’t have to be like this. It doesn’t have to be like this.” I didn’t do anything as a result of that call, I just carried on drinking. It would be a while before I got to a meeting and longer still before I stopped drinking. But I have never, ever forgotten the power of that strong, calm voice – “It doesn’t have to be like this”. A seed was planted. AA was in my life, even although I didn’t want it.
Thanks everyone who gives service on the Helpline. You can never know what seeds you plant.
Dilys
Luxembourg, Monday night online