The meetings that I have decided to attend was on Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 7:00pm. It was located in Dover, PA at the Calvary Lutheran Parish House. It was Alcoholics Anonymous but there were individuals with other addictions there as well. Going into this meeting for the very first time in my life was very weird for me. I didn't know what to expect and didn't know how the people would be. "Would I be stared at?" I thought to myself. I actually was kind of scared. I did have someone that I know that is a speaker from time to time, and is a recovering addict that went along with me but I was still very nervous. There were a bunch of people there, mostly men but still some woman. My Second meeting that I attended, took place on Sunday, August 16, 2015. This meeting was at 7:30pm at the Pleasureville UMC, which is located in York, PA. This meeting was an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting as well but again there were addicts all of kinds there. Since this was now the second meeting, I was a little less nervous because I knew what to expect walking in but of course there were different people at this one than the other. I did hear that sometimes people attend multiple meetings. Again, like the night previous it seemed there were more men that attended than women. .
Some positive reactions that I took away from going to these meetings was that it was nice to see how many people actually went and actually wanted to receive the help to better their life and were willing to help others start down the recovery path. I liked being able to listen to all their testimonies, for the ones that went up and talked. The first step of the 12 step is that you have admitted that you are powerless over your addiction and that your life has become unimaginable. Going to these meetings you realize how many want help and willing to do anything to get it. The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem and in my eyes going to a meeting is showing that they have a problem.
