My sponsor, for the first three years I was sober, used to ask me about every couple of months, "I ever tell you I didn't think you were going to make it?" The first few times, I took offense until it became a running joke with us.
I've been classified as a high bottom drunk by some oldtimers because I got sober at 34. How bad could it have been? I had no money, no possessions to speak of, my health was shot, I was unemployable, but I still had custody of my kids, so I hadn't lost everything.
I don't think "high bottom drunk" is a slight, either. I think it's a blessing! Yes, I'm sure you have a pile of wreckage in your past. What drunk doesn't? But if you think of the hurt you've saved your family, your employer, your friends, your society by getting sober now, it might put it in perspective. You hurt as badly as you had to hurt, both yourself and others, to make the decision to get well again. Good for you!!
I have a sponsee who just turned thirty. She's been sober for three years. Her bottom? One day, she realized that this "five year plan" she made in college was almost ten years in the works, and none of her goals had yet been achieved. She struggled, stumbled a few times, then finally committed to doing whatever it took to get and stay sober. High bottom? Sure! But low enough for her. That's all it takes.
Peace & Love,
Sugah