SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information - View Single Post - 24 Hour Club Sign Up Sheet, Part 60, All Welcome!

05-27-2014, 01:49 AM

# 401 (permalink)

venuscat

Member

Join Date: Nov 2012

Location: German Village, Columbus with my love ♥

Posts: 88,748

Reposting for deeker! May 27th, 2014.

Hi There! I hope everyone is well today!

There are so many new people joining us and we are so happy you are here!
What we do here is sign up and commit to staying clean and sober for 24 hours.

We have to start somewhere. Why not here, why not now? Are you in?

Please post time you are committing but please only sign in once daily as
this is mainly a sign up sheet.

Thank You!

Welcome to Our Newest Members - changeiscoming - Mental122 - Fecta - IrieOne - Minion09 - AlliH

Welcome back to those returning!!

Congratulations and Way To Go !

LeTheVerte 4 weeks!
MrG 4 weeks!
liberated 8 months!
deeker 1 yr 5 months!
1newcreation 1 yr 9 months!

If I missed your special day, my apologies. Please send me a pm with your
clean/sober date. If you slipped or relapsed, just get honest and come back!
We know this is not easy, we want to support you!

Thank You Miss venuscat for Congratulating Our celebrants behind the scenes.
Also for reposting throughout the night. (My night)

Roster will be posted at 10 pm EST USA 5/27.

I have asked Tetra to share her story. I admire Tetra because she comes to SR and asks for help when she is
stressed out instead of reaching for a drink. Her name "Tetra" comes from the character in the video game
Legend Of Zelda.

Hi, My Name is Tetra,

"What brought me to SR?

I first came to SR when my life was a living hell. It came up during one of my internet searches. I started drinking in
college. A few glasses of wine while I was getting ready to go out. I always felt I “needed” it. I had to have it in order
to be more sociable. It was “good” for me.

It was around this time that my sister began having mental problems. My mother has huge issues regarding shame and
she did not take this well at all. Everything had to be “hidden” in case the neighbours found out. We were never allowed
to discuss it with anyone in case people were laughing at us.

Fast forward a few years and I got a job in an office. I was out drinking pretty much every night and at work during the
day. It was around this point that my sister met her future husband. I really feel that she married the first man who paid
attention to her in order to get away from the atmosphere at home.

When we first met him, he told us that he is Italian but we later found out he’s not. I will say that a Romanian taxi driver
was not my mother’s idea of a suitable husband for her doctor daughter.

I remember coming home from work one day and my mom was weeping at the kitchen table. I asked her what’s wrong and
she told me my sister was getting married.

My parents begged her not to go through with it, but she informed us that she was getting married with or without us.
My mother wept all throughout the trip and the wedding itself. I drank all throughout the trip and the wedding.

What made me decide to stop?

I am 33 years old and have been having issues with my mother for the reasons above. Because when it dawned on me
that I had no control over alcohol, and I would be capable therefore of doing anything, I knew I had to quit.

You don't realize until perhaps years later what an effect you were having on the family (in particular my dad whom I love
very much).

How I stopped:

I put down the bottle and started going to therapy. You know, I never knew how much trouble I was in until my therapist
asked me one day “are you afraid of your mother?” I just looked at him and cried and cried for about an hour. I felt so
ashamed.

What life is like now:

Well, I am sleeping better and wake up in the mornings feeling far less anxious and unhappy than I used to. Don’t get me
wrong. Even now, I sometimes wake up wondering what the point is of being alive.

But it’s a lot better than the old panic and misery that had to be fought through every morning for an hour before the horror
began to drift away.

Because here’s the deal: I’m not ashamed anymore. I’m an alcoholic. I’m an alcoholic for many reasons. I’m an alcoholic because
I like to treat discomfort with alcohol.

I like to anesthetize myself against things that make me unhappy. I like to drink, because I like the effects produced by alcohol.
Left to my own devices I will drink, rather than do any other thing. And I’m not ashamed of any of that. It’s just who I am.

I am not ashamed, because I don’t drink anymore. I go to bed each night sober, and I wake up the same way. I have done this
without fail for 6 months in a row.

I am not ashamed, because I tend to my responsibilities and I care for the people who matter to me. I also acknowledge the
contributions that others make to my life, and I endeavor to repay those efforts".

Thanks for letting me share

~Tetra~

Thank you so much Tetra it sounds like you have taken responsibilty for your
addiction and that is the first step and I want you to know it does get better!

Tetra will have 7 months clean and sober on June 1st. Yay!

*Song For The Day-Who You Are- Jessie J

If ever unable to locate the 24 Hour Club, Go To Search on Blue Tool bar and
type in Newcomer Daily Support Threads and click Go. This is part 60!