Halt

[bballdad]

hi everyone
I`m Tommy and I am definitely an alcoholic

My ISP has been on the blink since last Saturday evening.Tuesday evening a young man showed up to replace it so I had a nice time out..Back online.....

I had a experience last Friday I feel needs to be posted.It may help someone else here avoid the same pitfall I fell into,and have fallen into many times.

After 2 or 3 weeks of working long hours and getting less sleep than necessary,maybe 4-5 hours a night,I was beyond tired last Friday morning when I got up.I tryed to do my 11th step,and I felt like my prayers was getting no where,and that I was wasting time.I did the best I could.I went to work and made it thru the day.About 5:00 Friday evening I had been entertaining the thoughts of drinking for the first time in a very long time.A drink was looking good.AA was looking very bad.I remember thinking screw AA,I`m tired of working my butt off there,etc...screw them all,all they want to do is fuss,screw around,etc....well,that is not excally true..but I was thinking it...
I never wanted to go to another AA meeting or do anything but hit the sack and sleep.
More of my thoughts was
I`ve been sober almost 20 yrs,I`m ok...I can stay at home and rest and drink some..and a lot more crazy things..

Well,after a while I spoke with my wife and told her and she said "you need to get you butt to a meeting"
she was right,when you are so tired praying seems to do no good,get to a meeting.
I got cleaned up and went,reluctantly.A friend sober 23 yrs was speaking and I talked with him before the meeting.I talked with my sponsor after the meeting.
I went home and slept as much as possible all weekend.I have adjusted my work schedule this week to get more rest.
HALT is real and I believe many alcoholics relapse because they neglect it.
So,if you are new or not so new,learn it and do it,it may save your life.
My greatest failure sober has been to neglect HALT

because of my neglect,I have paid the physical and mental price many times...and thank God I have remained sober somehow thru it all,it has to be because of the Care of a Kind and Loving Greater Power....doing for me what I sometimes am to dumb to do for myself

H-hungry
A-angry
L-lonely
T-tired


this whole experience has been a shock,a wakeup call for me
it`s still one day at a time
no matter how long you have been sober
I`m going to bed soon,you folks have a good day....and night
:-)

[CarolD]

Wow....thanks for the powerful reminder


Each time I drank again, at least 2
of the HALT elements were in place.

[bugsworth]

bballdad, I don't post in this forum since I left aa a little over a month ago, but I wanted to say that I think this post is extremely useful to all regardless of recovery method. Thank you for the post and the share.

[caraway]

Thanks for posting that reminder bballdad.

[Tazman53]

Fantastic reminder!!! Thanks.

[barb dwyer]

b-dad -

thank you for a very informative post and share.

[Zanthos]

Thanks bballdad. It's because there are men and women in the program like you who have the courage and humility to continue to share their on-going experiences in recovery that I realize (a) I will always be an alcoholic and (b) I never have to be alone.

[JustOneMan]

me and a friend modified it slightly to HALTTS

Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
Thirsty
Sick

When I came up with this I NEEDED to be reminded that yes, simple thirst can actually be an issue. Well, nowadays, it seems that soooo many folks are carrying a bottle of water around.

And for me, whenever I am sick I want to "feel better quicker" or self-medicate.

Wow, us alkies can complicate anything!