“We feel that our approach to the disease of addiction is completely realistic for the therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel. We feel that our way is practical, for one addict can best understand and help another addict.”Basic Text pg. 18-How It WorksI know when I was in my active addiction and people tried to reach out to me I could never relate with them nor them with me. It was like we were on different planes. However on the next page of the Basic Text it says “As a result of attending a few meetings, we begin to feel like we finally belong somewhere.” And that’s how it worked for me. I didn’t have to hide my feelings anymore, out of fear of being rejected or laughed at. I didn’t have to word everything just right to make the people at those meetings like me. I never had to be anything other than who I was in order to fit in. Because we share a common bond, this disease called addiction. I soon began to realize that it truly didn’t matter what I had used, how long I had used, or what depths I went to, to get more. That at least one other person in that room (usually several) had done the exact same thing. They had found a way out and were willing to show me! And they did it with love, something that I hadn’t felt in a long time and it was kinda strange. But I learned to accept that love and in turn give it away.
Where do I fit in? , that might be an addicts first question, it was mine.
As a young man I wanted someplace to fit in, even with the people I used with I did not feel like i fit in and I did that for years.
After going to a few meetings I knew where that was, I know where it's at today right in a meeting.
I can sit there before the meeting and my head says " You don't belong here" but the first person who opens there mouth, usually the secretary who starts having people read, I immediately relate. When people , addicts start to share I cannot deny it any longer LOL
Any meeting NA or AA that I go to I belong i'm definetly a member and feels more personal then even being with my own family.
I all thru my adolesents look for a place to belong even if it meant doing stupid things or better yet stupid ppl lol. I was and still am scared of rejection abandonment but in my heart io know this is where i belong I am grateful for that. MIP has been a great part of my recovery i am glad to be home......... Manon
