Have you ever been to a 12 Step Meeting. I would imagine the bulk of this audience has and so for the most part you will feel right at home. However, if you do attend regularly I am fairly confident the kind of stuff we hear inside the rooms is wisdom beyond recovery. In other words it would apply to most all of our lives.

I Heard It In A Meeting is a combination of great quotes heard in the rooms of 12 step meetings and the meaning behind them. I encourage you to share and comment on our posts as there are so many valid points of view to be heard.

Finally, if you are looking for recovery answers for yourself or a friend, my email address is accessible and I respond to everyone. Reach out and ask any question you might have and I will find the right answer or the right source for you.

There is so Much Wisdom to be Heard

I know it sounds counter-intuitive to think that a bunch of folks who had reached a point of incomprehensible demoralization in their lives and have crawled back to society on their hands and knees could impart wisdom on any subject let alone personal development, but the miracle does happen.

However, it is just the opposite. Folks that have spent time in these 12 step meetings have also spent time doing the work that is involved and suggested in these rooms. It’s kinda like the skinny kid on the block when you were in grammar school, suddenly became the hunk in high school because he spent that entire stretch of time focusing on building his body.

Folks in recovery do the same thing, only with their emotional stability, their mental acuity and their spiritual practice. Many are involved in as much as 5-7 meetings a week, they work diligently at the steps and help others to do the same thing. So it is no surprise that there is tremendous wisdom that comes out of these 12 step meetings but most of the rest of the world just doesn’t know it yet.

What can You get out of IHIIAM

Unfortunately I have no idea haha. I tend to act on my instinct. I build websites, market them and I am in recovery. This is just in exercise in putting the two together. I simply think that most anyone can benefit from what is shared here. It is positive, it cuts through most excuse ridden therapy and it finds a home square in the middle of your heart. Many of the quotes you will see here will not just be idealistic Pollyanna blabbering. They will give insight into why certain occurrences tend to happen over and over again and how you can break that path and create a new on.

Are you Looking for Recovery

If you are struggling right now, the best advice in the world is pick up your phone, call the nearest 12 step program (AA, NA, whatever they are all right in every phone book no matter where you life). Don’t read any further, don’t ask your brother-in-law, don’t pass Go and collect $200. Get you butt to a meeting and do it now.
There is no substitute for being with and sharing with another person in recovery. They have been where you are and can relate to what you are going through. It is by far, without a doubt the safest place for you to be. This is a brutal disease and one that will take your life if you let it. Don’t, we are here, everywhere.

You Can Contribute – Engage in our Discussions

Let us know what you think. If you have thoughts about a certain post please comment and give us your opinion. You have no idea who you may help. Think about it if your comment reaches just one person who finds recovery, even if you are not aware of it, what a blessing that would be. Nothing will be censored or squelched here. I would appreciate respectful language but for the most part we will let things go because we know how import expression it.

There is a Solution

Even in your darkest hour, there is a solution. I can tell you myself and many others have been there and now we are here. As I write this my heart is full of hope, joy and purpose. You or someone you love can have this two. There is a way to put down the chemical, clean up and change the destructive path you are on now. IHIIAM is just a reflection of that happening all around the world.
Read some of our posts and know these quotes have come from folks who were where you are at this moment. If you are resentful, full of anger, not content with the direction you are going, I can tell you this is not a natural state of being and you can make a change.
This is not to say we don’t experience anger, frustration and grief, we do. Recovery just helps you process it in a more healthy way to both get through it and more importantly learn from it. Inevitably these occurrences become less and less in your life.

Promises Promises

We have a list of promises in recovery that we read almost every meeting. It is a snippet from the Big Book. This is my favorite of all the readings we do. I can tell you that a while back I was experiencing none of these promises before recovery and now I continue to experience a bunch.

1. If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are half-way through.
2. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness.
3. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.
4. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.
5. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others.
6. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear.
7. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.
8. Self-seeking will slip away.
9. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change.
10. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
11. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us.
12. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves

At the end of this reading there is a question that well all answer. The question is, “Are these extravagant promises?” We all answer in unison, “We think not.” I disagree, I think they are amazing and extravagant. I also think “they are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.”