InTheRooms.com Taught me How to Stay Sober

I was twenty-seven days sober. Quivering in my voice could be heard whenever I hit the request to share button to do a reading or to share. I still cried whenever I said my name and added, “I am an alcoholic.”  My life was a mess.  I had lost my license in a blackout and had to be honest with my family and employer about what happened. More importantly, I had to disclose to them that I was an alcoholic. InTheRooms.com (ITR) became my primary source of sobriety early on. There were people there with thirty-plus years advising and encouraging me as a newcomer.

I was told that service keeps us sober, and so I qualified at seven months to become a chair in Global Steps Alcoholics Anonymous Group (GSAA). This required sharing my qualifications as an alcoholic in their business meeting, and subjecting myself to a vote because I was sober under one year.  I took on chairing with fervor. I studied Alcoholics Anonymous, its history and tried to make sure the meeting I chaired was steeped in either AA literature, readings or open discussion with a topic. I went so far as to make a topic box that had recovery-centered topics. I created a speaker-lead meeting related to the Promises, which kept me hoping that my life would get better. I got a sponsor, I worked the steps, I helped others, and I continued to maintain my sobriety predominately using InTheRooms.com.

I wanted to meet some of the folks on the other side of the camera, so at fifteen months sober I embarked on a road trip to the 80^th Anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous in Atlanta, Georgia, and I met ten people from ITR there. This began a commitment for me to meet as many ITR folks as I could over my sobriety.  I would vacation close by to other InTheRooms.co members, I would attend AA Conventions to meet up with them and I would travel in my own area of the country (New England) to meet someone who was part of Agnostic AA.  This helped keep me sober.

What was never lost on me was that I needed to continue to be of service, so I advanced my service duties. I became a vote counter at two years sober. I became an Alternate Chairperson at five years of sobriety, and became the Group Chairperson at five and a half.  Through service and my deep connection with folks from InTheRooms.com, I have managed to stay sober. ITR provided such an important platform for me on my road to wellness and has continued to be part of my daily life since 2014. I am so grateful for this special place.

Melissa_in_NH – Sober date March 9, 2014