Signal30

I believe that the Holy Grail to the alcoholic is achieving and maintaining emotional sobriety. As you have heard me say time and time again on this site how I see emotional sobriety as the answer to having serenity and peace.

I know I may sound like a broken record, but by continuing to make sobriety my top priority I have experienced a state that I didn't think was obtainable for me. By following a recovery program of action, where I live by Gods will, helping others who suffer, accepting things I cannot change, and by doing my best to not live by selfishness and self-reliance, I know now that this is definitely the answer.

Now of course physical sobriety is just as important, but what good is just not drinking? Even if I was able to not drink on self will alone, why would I want to deal with problems alone? By giving God my shortcomings, character defects, anger, and fears, and doing Gods will, it's as if I now have Teflon coating, and the crap that used to give me misery now seems to roll off a lot easier.

All I'm doing is my best to pray with good intentions, living by the Third Step Prayer, helping others, following the steps, going to meetings, service work, working with my sponsor, etc. This isn't a pink cloud. This amazing state can continue as long as I keep doing what I said above DAILY. God willing.

Gratitude is too light of a word to describe my well... Gratitude.

Thanks to you all in here who helped me when I needed it.


Tom

Tommyh

well put Tom
I would have settled for less,apparently God had other plans

Rimmy

Emotional sobriety is right on! I tried to "just not drink" for a long time, but there was no real emotional difference. I failed and failed and failed. Now I'm working on myself along with just not drinking and it's much easier. It's never "easy", but it works.

A few months back, I would have had a buzz by now (it's 9:43 AM). Instead, I'm getting ready to go to my Grandmother's for and early brunch, something I neglected to even bother to do for years. It's part of my doing something that isn't for me. I have work to do. It's raining out. I don't really feel like going out at all. But I will come home having made my gram's week and I'll have a different kind of "buzz", which just drives the urges to drink right away. I'm also gaining a "Teflon coating" and it really does feel good to have that itch in the back of my head slowly subsiding away.

Thanks for the post Sig

unigirl

thanks for the post signal, it's always good to read such positive threads - esspecially as i'm in the early days of sobriety- iahve all of this ot work towards and look forward to!

Tazman53

Tom I totally concur, I was able in my early 20s to go a year and a half without a drink. If one gave me a breathalyzer I would have blown a 0.0 so legally I was sober the whole time, but emotionally I was a wreck!

I started back on my self medication and the irratability and anxiousness was cured!!!

The steps I have found were the key to being emotionally as well as physically sober.

About 2 months ago my wife asked me "Martin if you found out you only had 3 months to live would you start drinking again?" Without hesitation I answered "Nope, I like being sober to much!" My answer shocked her!

I am far from bullet proof, I know I am not cured, I know that if I quit working my program, quit doing service work, quit going to meetings, quit working with others, my next drink will not be to far away. The short time I have been in the rooms I know of one guy who did just what I mentioned after 27 years of sobriety being active in AA, he was drunk in less then a month after his last meeting and is still out there worse from what I heard then he was when he first came into the rooms and got sober. We had a guy go back out since I came in that was dead in 6 months from drinking.

nandm

Well put. Thank your for the post!