NEOMARXIST

It's amazing how people will pray upon insecurity. In life in general then if you are looking vulnerable or insecure then people will pray upon that. If you are confident and "own" what you are doing then people will not bat an eyelid and accept it.

This is why I am so glad how my journey of recovery planned out with regards to the word alcoholic. Like it's amazing how because I don't give a sh*t about people knowing I'm an alcoholic then it really ain't never been an issue. In fact on the contrary I have gained a lot of respect in many ways I think. It has certainly meant that I'm still sober now. No confusion, no rationalisations, no twisting your arm to take a drink at a staff party. Not for this alkie. Ha-ha. In fact it's always quite comical. There can be a lot of humour gained from the alcoholic once you get to the stage of recovery where you can laugh at yourself. It's great man.

It is easy to think that calling yourself an alkie is some kind of negative thing. But for me it has been exactly the opposite of that. It is empowering. People can see the total lack of fear of the use of that word when it is used to explain why I don't drink. They accept it and think nothing of it again.
An alcoholic has nothing to fear as long as they're sober. If you drink again, well, that would be a different story. But I ain;t going to 'just for today'. So nothing to fear!

Grateful to be a recovering alcoholic.

Have a great sober weekend. I know I will.

Peace

Jamison

This may be corny but like they say we are not bad people trying to get good, we are sick people trying to get well.

I know lots of people don't understand alcoholism, but as long as we are getting sober then we should be very proud of ourselves!!!!!

I place to much power in others hands about what they think, but I am taking it back the power, it only matter what I think of myself

Overcoming our addictions is an admirable thing!!!!!

Kerbcrawler

well must admit,i havent actually told anyone that im an alkie...cos im not sure that i am,
but thats not the issue..there is an abnormal or has been, dependancy on alcohol..and i cant control it...i just dont mention it, the guys at work etc, i havent really been put in a really awkward situation..yet.. but if/when i do i will have a few bottles of n/a beers..just for such highly temptious occassions..which on the current theme of things rarely crop up..though yes neo, agree with,the way you carry yourself mentally/physically
tends to draw the response appropriate..head held high,sober with pride... no nonsense...

LexieCat

To each his own... I personally think it's TMI to share with EVERYONE. It makes some people uncomfortable to know that much about a coworker or classmate.

That said, I'm not mortified for anyone to find out. I think we all gotta find our own comfort zone with this kind of thing.

Dee74

It's very much a personal choice I think.
As I've shared before I told everyone - I didn't want any boltholes I could run to.

That being said, I was a very obvious alcoholic at the end anyway, and I had no co-workers or bosses to tell.

Diff'rent strokes



These days it's easy to say 'I drink...I fall over'.
It's true, noone gets embarrassed, and noone questions that.

D

LaFemme

To each his own...I have seen so many definitions of what an alcoholic is that I don't know what to think about the word anymore. Frankly, I am in a business where talking about it would potentially. Put me out of business..I live with and socialize with clients, so talking with them about it isn't really viable either.

Ghostly

It's def an individual decision on who to tell what.

Still...I like your approach Neo. I too have a lot of pride in quitting. I used to be really worried about people finding out. Not so much anymore.

I mean really...you are going to use this against me? Really?! Wow, ya got me. I stopped drinking cuz couldn't control it. Ya got me.

Kmber2010

Well said Neo. Thx for sharing. I can relate in my recovery to feeling much like you. My entire time drinking was spent literally living in fear. Fear of what people would think, fear that others would know and the amount of work to hide it (when I look back now it was so painfully obvious) was so much harder then it was when I admitted and accepted to myself and to others that I was an alcoholic.

The word fear summed up all of those years drinking and the word free is what I have found in recovery.

These posts are so wonderful for me because I know you and others understand. I feel in ways that I never felt were possible prior to recovery and getting sober.

Thank you.

Lionne

There are some things that make me feel vulnerable but the fact that I am an alcoholic isn't one of them anymore. While I personally keep it like Lexiecat, IDGAF if somebody finds out.
I am not ashamed that I decided to do something about the problem I had and did some positive changes in my life. How could anyone use something that made me stronger and more resilient as a weapon against me?

Ghostly

Totally agree stranger...well said!