hey i need help geting started
i have been a drunk for a long time and alcohal has ruined my life to many times.
i have a fiance that is about to leave me and take my kids with her and i dont want that to happen so if i can quit drinking our problems will be gone. i just missed work today because of my drinking so now i dont even no if i have a job. please help me get started on these 12 steps

thank you

Hi there, I just had a quick look at your profile and see you are in Ohio, which is where the AA fellowship began many years ago. My suggestion to you would be to pick up the phone and call your local AA helpline Here's a couple of links to their info site.

http://www.aaneoh.org/intergroupsNEOhio.html

http://www.theagapecenter.com/AAinUSA/Ohio.htm

You will be able to access a meeting this very day if you call them.

Post on the main AA board,  http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=42735&p=1    (Click link)  and you will get lots of messages and support, and it will be great to read on the boards that you went to your first meeting, and you can tell us all how it went.

I am Avril, alcoholic in England UK, it's a pleasure to see you asking for help, this is exactly how AA works, you ask for help and it will be there.

Good luck to you, stay close.

Have to agree with Avril here Get yourself to meetings meetings meetings Getting sober invovles more than just quiting drinking It is by working the steps and behavior lifestyle change wishing you well

Hello my friend, I agree, go to meetings but be weary of the messages you hear. Many meetings and even sponsors will suggest doing 90 meetings in 90 days, being a coffee maker, etc. For some 'heavy drinkers' this is the solution and by quitting drinking everything gets better. For people like me, I had a spiritual malady that created life problems. I not only had an allergy of my body (I can't stop drinking once I start- offering me 1 drink would have been a downright insult) but also an obsession of the mind (meaning I can stop going back to drinking because I am: restless, irritable, and discontent sober). There is a path of sobriety where the R.I.D. remains but some are able to white knuckle it through the tough stuff. The other path is one of wellness where the obsession will cease after a certain point (different for everyone). Try to find a meeting that focuses on step work and certainly try to find a sponsor that has lives this way of life. The difference is incredibly significant and I promise if you follow the big book with a sponsor life will get so much better for you. Best of luck, feel free to let me know if you have any questions with anything.