A “New Comer” recently sent me this essay because he wanted to share his experience. I promised I would publish it but also told him that I would comment on the essay as well. Anyway, below are “His” (anonymous) thoughts and below that are my own. I hope this helps any New Comer to NA Meetings.
New Comer to NA: 1st Meeting Experience
Hey Editor of the NA Blog. I wanted to share this story with you and hopefully get some feed back. I attended my first NA meeting the other day and had mixed emotions about my experience. I went because I really want to quit using. This time it’s really for me. Not like all the other times. Anyway, all these guys were old schoolers with like 10 or 20 years clean, and they mostly just talked about there wives and family and money and stuff, and not there recovery or addiction. Also, the meeting was totally disorganized. There were people joking and laughing while the speaker was talking, etc. You know there were some incredible moments, but mostly what seemed like boring conversations between old buddies. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t know if I want to go back. Let me know if there is anything you can suggest.
- Anonymous
Well, first off, thanks for sharing. A New Comer’s first experience can be very rough. It seems like that is your case. However, I would not suggest that you throw in the towel just yet. Please remember, there are usually dozens of NA groups within close proximity to each other, all with different agendas, that anyone seeking the NA fellowship can attend. For example, just in my area, there are all of the following groups, each with a different focus: “Step 1-2-3 Ongoing; Beginners; Meditation; Youth Oriented; Women Preferred; Basic Text Study;” so forth and so on. I encourage you to seek out the full schedule of NA meetings and maybe try attending some other groups. Every recovery experience is different and it is very important that you feel comfortable in your home NA group. I know sometimes the “old schoolers” can be like that, but like you said, “there were some incredible moments.” Try and look for those if someone is boring you. I can tell you that recovery is not all fun and easy, but keep going back to the meeting and you’ll see that the 12 steps and the NA fellowship works.
- NA Blog (Editor)