if one just chooses to stay to themselves in sobrity with family and people close to them is that a real thing?
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Welcome to our community.
I don’t think that meetings are a must. Connection of some sort is important for many of us. It’s difficult to do it alone,.get through difficult situations, learning new tools and practice them. If your family and friends are working for you, it’s fine. Who would judge this. Maybe you’ll find yourself needing other things further down the road. It’s your journey.
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Meetings are not a must, but in my experience people are a must. I personally have never heard about anyone getting sober without input and accountability with other people.
I try to make my accountability with people outside my family. I have a list of friends I have made who are in recovery, and I call them, and we meet for coffee once or twice a week to talk about how we are doing emotionally, and to give feedback to each other. It helps me to have that emotional recognition and communication.
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They aren’t a must but they certainly have made my sobriety much easier. No one ever wants to be a member of AA but once they are they usually never want to leave.
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I’ve never been to one, but if it works for ya it works.
I am accountable to no one but myself. This app and my sober self is all I rely upon.
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Ive never been to a meeting.
When I made the choice to stop I had family around me supporting me and access to a mental health nurse.
I got to the point I just couldnt keep drinking and my children were starting to notice (theres more to the story but ill keep it brief.)
So for me no I couldnt do it alone, I need a network of support via family, and I needed to address WHY I was drinking which talking really helps with but ultimately it was down to me to make the choice not to drink.
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Welcome Bondi! 
Everyone’s path is different. If you find the support from family is not enough and you end up relapsing, that’s when you need to reassess your plan. Stay open minded to all programs whether it’s AA, Dharma Recovery, SMART or whatever. There’s so much available out there that there’s no excuses not to pursue other avenues when you find one isn’t working.
Meetings are never a must. As a matter of fact, everything suggested are just that…“suggestions” from those that have been where you’re at and have experienced success.
I honestly didn’t think I needed any help at all. I’d go months, even up to a year plus on my own. But I’d always find my way back to the bottle. My willpower alone wasn’t enough. I finally surrendered and went to AA, the last place I wanted to be, but I wanted long term sobriety more. With the help of my AA fellows, I dug deep into the “why’s”. There’s nothing like working with others that get it. It’s amazing how the AA program has completely transformed my life. I’m 5 years in and can’t imagine life without meetings and the friendships.
I went to AA for my drinking and I stay for my thinking.
Wishing you the best on your journey!
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Welcome to the community.
I feel that support is imperative in our journey. Wherever you can find it is good and healthy. Personally I utilize the support of my family and this community in my journey.
The key is to heal and stay sober. Find what works for you and stuck to it. We can always aff and subtract things from our tool box as our journey progresses.
Glad you are here posting. This is a wonderful supportive community with peers who understand the addiction struggles. Hope to see you around 
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Welcome bondi!!
We are all unique individuals on our own journeys. Finding what truly works for you is what is important.
TS has been my support community. I never have made it to a meeting of any group. I read a lot of quit lit and books on different paths to sobriety. I read a lot here and spent hours here in early sobriety. Years later, I am still here a lot. Therapy can also be incredibly healing. Keep adding things to your sober toolbox…build up those sober muscles…use what works…maybe it is meetings, maybe not. And as time goes on, maybe what you need changes as well. Stay open and curious. Hope to see you around!!! 
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@Lisa07 explained it perfectly 
I didn’t attend meetings initially, but this app helped me immensely in the beginning. I turned to AA at 60 days sober bc I needed answers to the questions I kept asking myself. The biggest one was “How do I live with my regrets?” I asked that at my first meeting and they told me the answer. “You don’t.” Then explained exactly how to do that(over time). What AA did for me, was teach me how to rebuild and live my life sober. Something I never would’ve figured out on my own. I’m going on 2 years sober and I don’t currently attend meetings regularly. I do, however, check in here every single day. I’d never say I learned all there is to know from the program, but I learned what I needed and I can always go back if/when I need to learn more. Knowing how to say no to a drink is a HUGE part of sobriety, probably the biggest, but knowing how to live your life sober is just as important. Welcome to our community and congrats on your time sober! Hope to see you around 
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This is how I feel for year 2025 and from now on and focusing on self is my goal I made it a year w/o my babygirl(furbaby) and today was the day after the fire and no one has contacted me or asked for new years invitation or anything so I believe it’s time to stay to ones self
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I am just opening myself up to this app today because I fell back into trying things one more time of 2024 and things didn’t come out the way I thought for last year and I made it through the mountains and obstacles but I’m still alone w/o my fur companion wasn’t the best year but I made it. I thought I wouldn’t come back to sober lifestyle I needed to because I cannot continue to get stoned/drunk because my goals for 2025 is to become a real Chef and I can’t multi task things under the party lifestyle because it’s difficult to separate regular/party because I’m not that strong mentally with having depression and heartbreak of losing my furbabies. So today from now on I have chose to pick myself up and clean myself up. Meetings aren’t a must for me but surrounding myself with sober people is my must, learning to say no is my new must as well. I just ask for prayers from the ones that believe in a higher power and encourage better for use struggling with addiction. Everyone on here have a blessed day and thank yall for being here, because if yall weren’t here I don’t know what my next choice would of been today because addiction is a mofo since I have to stay polite and respectful with my words and responses. Love ya:
Bondi
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