Gottalife

Hi YLS, I appreciate your honesty. I got sober at 22, though I did not believe it would be possible for me to recover. Today I am quite happy with the prospect that I will never drink again, but that has come from the recovery process, not the scary events that sometimes happen in the last parts of our drinking.

Nothing bad has to happen for you to get and stay sober. I accomplished that through a recovery program but in order to do what it takes, I needed a good reason. I found that when I sat down with an aa member for an afternoon and discovered what was actually wrong with me, how serious it was, and that there was a way out. I was suffering from a progressive illness which was getting worse all the time, there was no cure, and unless I could stop drinking I would surely die.

I didn't just take this guys word for it, I compared what he told me to my own experience and I began to see the truth of my situation. Unless there was a big change in me, I wasn't going to live much longer. Once that fact was established in my mind, I had my reason to do what it takes. It was simply a matter of life and death, mine!

I guess some people need a big scare, like killing their child, to break through the denial. But an honest talk with someone who knows alcoholism, keeping an open mind, could save you from that kind of pain.