My occupation
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Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Dayton, OH,USA
Posts: 40
My occupation
Hi Everyone,
I am currently reading this book by John Grisham called The Testament, partly about a lawyer seeking sobriety, and he realizes he has to change his occupation to change himself and get sober. I was wondering, (a poll) how many of you out there felt they had to totally change their occupation to maintain their sobriety. I feel my Higher Power is pointing me in a different direction. Where I worked before it was very high stress and I don't know if I can go back to that kind of atmosphere and maintain any sort of sobriety. In fact I KNOW I can't. I am completely clueless about what work to do. I am babysitting for the summer, which I have managed to stay sober for everyday, but then there's always the weekend looming ahead.
That was always my "self reward" time for a job well done! I know I have to be patient and my Higher Power will show me the way, but I have to be sober also. Any sharing would be appreciated!
I am currently reading this book by John Grisham called The Testament, partly about a lawyer seeking sobriety, and he realizes he has to change his occupation to change himself and get sober. I was wondering, (a poll) how many of you out there felt they had to totally change their occupation to maintain their sobriety. I feel my Higher Power is pointing me in a different direction. Where I worked before it was very high stress and I don't know if I can go back to that kind of atmosphere and maintain any sort of sobriety. In fact I KNOW I can't. I am completely clueless about what work to do. I am babysitting for the summer, which I have managed to stay sober for everyday, but then there's always the weekend looming ahead.
That was always my "self reward" time for a job well done! I know I have to be patient and my Higher Power will show me the way, but I have to be sober also. Any sharing would be appreciated!
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Louisville KY.
Posts: 32
I was in a stressful occupation when they fired me because of being absent to much,it was like the best thing that happened to me,because I relized I needed help,my recovery started one month later.Was God listening to my prayers of help?I know he did.Just listen to your heart and make wise choices.Doing for others was the thing for me.I am now caring for children and I love it.Old Lady N Shoe
Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 41
Hi Terry
My old job involved a lot of travelling and staying nights in hotels, often at short notice. As an active alcoholic this was ideal. A few drinks in the bar then up to the room for the bottle I’d bought earlier. Around the time I was getting to AA I got a 6 month temporary reassignment to a “normal” job which allowed me to be home every night. That led on to a permanent change of job (same company, different location) where I am home every night apart from the odd training course.
I would have found staying sober very difficult in the old job, especially early on. The change came at just the right time for me. A year earlier and I would have turned the offer down because it would have interfered with my drinking.
Some people would call this a happy coincidence; others would call it the work of a higher power. I don’t know, and I don’t spend my time trying to figure it out. I’m just happy that it happened the way it did.
Michael
My old job involved a lot of travelling and staying nights in hotels, often at short notice. As an active alcoholic this was ideal. A few drinks in the bar then up to the room for the bottle I’d bought earlier. Around the time I was getting to AA I got a 6 month temporary reassignment to a “normal” job which allowed me to be home every night. That led on to a permanent change of job (same company, different location) where I am home every night apart from the odd training course.
I would have found staying sober very difficult in the old job, especially early on. The change came at just the right time for me. A year earlier and I would have turned the offer down because it would have interfered with my drinking.
Some people would call this a happy coincidence; others would call it the work of a higher power. I don’t know, and I don’t spend my time trying to figure it out. I’m just happy that it happened the way it did.
Michael
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Raleigh-Cary-Garner, NC
Posts: 26
Hi Terry; my name is Jon and I'm an alcoholic :p
At about 3 or 4 months sober, I finally was able to get part time employment in the field I had been in when I got fired for being drunk (hotel management). But, it was a small desk clerk job at a beach hotel, about 20 hours a week and required no special skills other than to answer the phone and check people in. It was very laid back and easy. Gave me plenty of time to read literature and it's where I actually wrote my 4th step. People would stop by on the way home from meetings and chat with me, and sometimes it was like having my own AA meeting in the little lobby. It was right on the beach and very conducive to recovery. No bar. LOL I think there are no coincidences in AA, so I'm sure I was given that opportunity because it was exactly what I needed at the time.
Prior to this, I had been unable to secure employment because everyone in that small resort town (Wilmington, NC) new my reputation as a very good manager, but, also a very bad drunk. No one would hire me.
At about 6 months sober, I got a job offer from a large hotel in Charlotte that I had been trying to get into for years. They, of course, had not "yet" heard about my reputation as a drunk. So, I consulted with my sponsor and he advised me to check it out . . . that I did not have enough information to make a decision, in fact, I was only being asked to come to an interview! So, I went. Keeping the admonition "Put your sobriety first and everything else will take care of itself" in priority, the first thing I did when I got to Charlotte was to hit some meetings. Then the interview.
Well, I knew, in my gut, that although I liked the town, and I loved the company and I wanted very much to work in that Hotel at the job and $$$ they were offering, I knew that I could not stay sober there. I knew this, partly because of the "pull" that I felt because Charlotte was where I did some very heavy drinking and drugging. And I knew it mostly because my support system was back in Wilmington and I didn't get a good feel at the meetings I checked out. Now, there was probably nothing wrong with those meetings, in fact there was nothing wrong with them at all . . . because I've since been back for visits, years later and found them right on target!!! It was me. I needed the closeness and community of my support group that was nurturing me into sobriety. I needed the consistency and the foundation first.
So, when the call came, I explained to them that I was now in recovery from alcoholism and it was not a good time for me to make this drastic a change. I was floored at the response. They said they understood and respected my decision and my good judgment and that I was indeed the kind of man they wanted on their staff and to give them a call when I thought I was ready to make the move. Go figure!!!
Well, I stayed in Wilmington, stayed very very poor (rented a shack in ol' shanty town for 95 a month . . . my "sobriety shack") and got sober, was rehired at my old job eventually, and transferred to Raleigh where I came to another cross road. My contract ended with the large hotel firm and I decided that it wasn't providing me with the "feel good" that I used to get from doing that work. So, I took off a year, divested myself of everything, rented a room and got real poor again. Took care of me, spiritually. And went back to school to get my masters. Through a series of circumstances (again, there are no coincidences in AA) was led into the work I do now. Not for the pay (I work in the public sector and the pay is very low), but, for the feeling that it gives me to do what I do.
If you had asked me 15 or 20 years ago what I'd be doing today, I certainly would never have guessed that I'd be an underpaid drug counselor with severely mentally ill people who are homeless, that I'd be living in a converted barn and driving a JEEP. All completely opposite of the glamorous, heady life style I'd imagined for myself.
And I'm in love with a wonderful man that HP has brought into my life.
So, I guess I said all that in response to your question. I am a firm believer in that adage: "Put your sobriety number one on the list and everything else . . . EVERYTHING . . . will take care of itself.
One Day At A Time.
Huge hugs.
Jon
At about 3 or 4 months sober, I finally was able to get part time employment in the field I had been in when I got fired for being drunk (hotel management). But, it was a small desk clerk job at a beach hotel, about 20 hours a week and required no special skills other than to answer the phone and check people in. It was very laid back and easy. Gave me plenty of time to read literature and it's where I actually wrote my 4th step. People would stop by on the way home from meetings and chat with me, and sometimes it was like having my own AA meeting in the little lobby. It was right on the beach and very conducive to recovery. No bar. LOL I think there are no coincidences in AA, so I'm sure I was given that opportunity because it was exactly what I needed at the time.
Prior to this, I had been unable to secure employment because everyone in that small resort town (Wilmington, NC) new my reputation as a very good manager, but, also a very bad drunk. No one would hire me.
At about 6 months sober, I got a job offer from a large hotel in Charlotte that I had been trying to get into for years. They, of course, had not "yet" heard about my reputation as a drunk. So, I consulted with my sponsor and he advised me to check it out . . . that I did not have enough information to make a decision, in fact, I was only being asked to come to an interview! So, I went. Keeping the admonition "Put your sobriety first and everything else will take care of itself" in priority, the first thing I did when I got to Charlotte was to hit some meetings. Then the interview.
Well, I knew, in my gut, that although I liked the town, and I loved the company and I wanted very much to work in that Hotel at the job and $$$ they were offering, I knew that I could not stay sober there. I knew this, partly because of the "pull" that I felt because Charlotte was where I did some very heavy drinking and drugging. And I knew it mostly because my support system was back in Wilmington and I didn't get a good feel at the meetings I checked out. Now, there was probably nothing wrong with those meetings, in fact there was nothing wrong with them at all . . . because I've since been back for visits, years later and found them right on target!!! It was me. I needed the closeness and community of my support group that was nurturing me into sobriety. I needed the consistency and the foundation first.
So, when the call came, I explained to them that I was now in recovery from alcoholism and it was not a good time for me to make this drastic a change. I was floored at the response. They said they understood and respected my decision and my good judgment and that I was indeed the kind of man they wanted on their staff and to give them a call when I thought I was ready to make the move. Go figure!!!
Well, I stayed in Wilmington, stayed very very poor (rented a shack in ol' shanty town for 95 a month . . . my "sobriety shack") and got sober, was rehired at my old job eventually, and transferred to Raleigh where I came to another cross road. My contract ended with the large hotel firm and I decided that it wasn't providing me with the "feel good" that I used to get from doing that work. So, I took off a year, divested myself of everything, rented a room and got real poor again. Took care of me, spiritually. And went back to school to get my masters. Through a series of circumstances (again, there are no coincidences in AA) was led into the work I do now. Not for the pay (I work in the public sector and the pay is very low), but, for the feeling that it gives me to do what I do.
If you had asked me 15 or 20 years ago what I'd be doing today, I certainly would never have guessed that I'd be an underpaid drug counselor with severely mentally ill people who are homeless, that I'd be living in a converted barn and driving a JEEP. All completely opposite of the glamorous, heady life style I'd imagined for myself.
And I'm in love with a wonderful man that HP has brought into my life.
So, I guess I said all that in response to your question. I am a firm believer in that adage: "Put your sobriety number one on the list and everything else . . . EVERYTHING . . . will take care of itself.
One Day At A Time.
Huge hugs.
Jon
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