Originally Posted by
Lizzie101 
... but does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle crisis without reaching for a bottle?
Early sobriety is tough. The only thing I knew how to do when problems arose was reach for a bottle. And that worked for a long time, right up until the point when it didn't. Then my problems just seemed to pile up and get worse. And I still had only one, now ineffective, solution.
I reached a point where I had only two choices. To paraphrase the Big Book, I could go on to the bitter end, blotting out the conciousness of my intolerable situation (my problems) as best I could, or accept spiritual help.
What I found by taking the 12 steps and recovering, was that I could deal with my problems. I still had them, but now I could face them.
So many people in early sobriety seem to think that if they just get these things in their life sorted out, then they'll be able to get sober. It doesn't work that way. I had to get sober and spiritually healthy before I could manage my problems.