Experience.

It was nothing like I thought it would be. I thought it would quiet and boring. It was just the opposite. We were all standing outside of the building, waiting to get in. There were all different kinds of different people. Different styles and different races. All different ages too. But they were all there for the same reason. They all wanted to know they weren't alone. They all wanted to be reminded of why they had changed their ways.
We got inside and found somewhere to sit. There were two floors. Chairs on the bottom floor and bleachers on the second. Every space was filled with people. I watched people walk in and greet other people. I've never shook so many hands before. By the end of the night, I've never had so much respect for so many people. They all amazed me. They all had so much strength. They were all standing there, sober. At some point in their lives, there came a point to where they knew they had to change. Alcoholics are living proof that in order to change, you have to want to change yourself. Nobody can make you change. You hear stories of how alcoholics abuse their children, wives, and even husbands. Or how they get into a car accident and kill people. Even that sometimes isn't enough to open their eyes and make them change. It takes a miracle.
To be in that room, with all of these people, made me sad and just completely amazed. At certain points in this mans speech, everyone around me recited lines that they knew. They were all so dedicated to changing their lives. I'm sure some of them had put all they had into changing. I didn't have to know them to be proud of every single one of them.