Originally Posted by
Berrybean 
PS one lady I know who now has some great recovery told me that she only came to AA because she was court ordered at first. While she had to go she hated it. She hated the people there. And then she relapsed and continued to drink for another few years. But then when she decided for herself that she WANT ED sobriety she had no hesitation in returning to AA, and said she knew that it was the place she knew that she could learn to get sober. I don't know if this gives you some hope or not really, as although it is positive NOW, it was hardly instant success. Although instantaneous success eludes most people in recovery. Recovery is more of a journey and often the journey is along a pretty bumpy old road.
Really great point - when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. I needed a LOT of education about what I
thought I knew about addiction when I arrived at SR. Sometimes I had to physically take a giant step back from my computer because my brain hurt from trying to take it all in, from all sides of the family dynamic.
That might've been the first big surprise for me - finding out just how much I didn't know despite being raised with an addict father who achieved sobriety & having taken a couple of courses on addiction in college many (cough, many!) years ago. I barely even remember the word "Codependent" coming up - we just didn't know as much then as we do know. We didn't have nearly the access to shared experiences & information that we have since the internet broadened our horizons.
There is so much more to addiction than you can learn in just a doctor's visit alicia, and while you are committed to your ways you also aren't closing the door on new ideas altogether & that's the most important thing.
