Originally Posted by
freshstart57 
It worked on me. At my poor wife's request, my parents arrived at my door one Monday morning after a 90 minute drive. I had never seen this look on their faces before in my life (I was 53). I invited them in, and made some coffee.
My dad did most of the talking. He said that my wife had called them the night before in tears, at the end of her rope. So my pa laid it out for me. He explained that I was about to lose my home and marriage, the respect of my adult children, and my job after that. Things would go downhill from there (he is such a kidder, my pa).
He said I needed to choose, and I needed to choose now. If I chose to get sober, I could stay with them, I could go to CAMH, I could go to rehab, I could go to AA, anything, and they would support me. But I needed to choose between drinking again, and the life I had with my family and my home and my job. And if I chose to get sober, I needed to understand that it had to stick, 'You are only going to get one shot at this'.
I chose to get sober. I understood immediately that this was completely and wholly up to me, and this was only going to be as difficult as I chose to make it. I decided to make it as easy as possible for myself, and decided to never again touch a drop. I remembered breaking up with an abusive GF, and I cut it off with her - I could see the similarities with my relationship with alcohol, and I knew that I had quit for good. Drinking was simply no longer 'me'. And I sat down then and there and cried with relief, that the lies and misery and shame and anxiety and depression and shame and guilt and shame (did I mention the shame) were over. I was done with them, and I was going to give myself a fresh start.
I read everything I could find, I got and read a big book and went to some meetings, read about SMART and Lifering, and then I found SR. I told my story, and a member here let me in on the point of view that what I was doing (and what had been done to me) was something called AVRT.
Please pm me if I can help in any way. Best to you.
Yup. Me, too. I chose to get sober, and I never drank again. Never will, either. I just know I wont, because i never allow the conversation in my head to start.
Great program.