Recovering alcoholics are losers
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 43
Recovering alcoholics are losers
That’s what I used to think. I had the notion that anyone that let themselves get that out of control with their drinking was a loser. I was a very high functioning alcoholic. I never got hangovers, never missed work, never missed an appointment. I had it all together and those losers who couldn’t handle it were pathetic in my eyes.
I know a guy at my job who was a drunk and he got in trouble for it. He had to go to recovery to keep his job and I just thought this guy was an idiot. I know a lot of the reasons I hated this guy so much was because I saw a lot of myself in him. He was a drunk and I was a drunk. The difference between me and him was he was too much of an idiot to keep the plates spinning like I was so good at.
Then one day I decided I had enough. I wanted to be a better person. I wanted to grow up and stop being a baby and have alcohol be my mommy and make everything ok. I wanted to have more money. I wanted freedom from the schedule and planning of when and how I was gonna get drunk. I wanted to be a role model for my kids and friend. When I give my daughters a bath we always take the bubbles and blow them into the air and I say make a wish. They would always ask me what I wished for and it was always the same but I could never tell them. I would think. I wish I could be free of vises. They are killing me. They were killing my soul. Now that I know what its like to have my wish. I’m starting to realize something.
Recovering alcoholics are probably the most admirable people I can think of. They struggle with a demon that will never leave them. Everyday to them is a trial with little reward that most people would recognize. I know I didn’t. Now I do. I see that recovering co-worker in a new light now. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I used to view people and how ignorant I was and might still be. Then I saw this quote and it really nailed it for me. I just wanted to share my thoughts, thanx for reading.
When you meet a sober alcoholic,
You meet a hero.
His mortal enemy slumbers within him;
He can never outrun his disability.
He makes his way through a world of alcohol abuse,
In an environment that does not understand him.
Society, puffed up with shameful ignorance,
Looks on him with contempt,
As if he were a second-class citizen
Because he dares to swim against
the stream of alcohol. But you must know:
No better people are made than this.
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (1831-1910)
I know a guy at my job who was a drunk and he got in trouble for it. He had to go to recovery to keep his job and I just thought this guy was an idiot. I know a lot of the reasons I hated this guy so much was because I saw a lot of myself in him. He was a drunk and I was a drunk. The difference between me and him was he was too much of an idiot to keep the plates spinning like I was so good at.
Then one day I decided I had enough. I wanted to be a better person. I wanted to grow up and stop being a baby and have alcohol be my mommy and make everything ok. I wanted to have more money. I wanted freedom from the schedule and planning of when and how I was gonna get drunk. I wanted to be a role model for my kids and friend. When I give my daughters a bath we always take the bubbles and blow them into the air and I say make a wish. They would always ask me what I wished for and it was always the same but I could never tell them. I would think. I wish I could be free of vises. They are killing me. They were killing my soul. Now that I know what its like to have my wish. I’m starting to realize something.
Recovering alcoholics are probably the most admirable people I can think of. They struggle with a demon that will never leave them. Everyday to them is a trial with little reward that most people would recognize. I know I didn’t. Now I do. I see that recovering co-worker in a new light now. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I used to view people and how ignorant I was and might still be. Then I saw this quote and it really nailed it for me. I just wanted to share my thoughts, thanx for reading.
When you meet a sober alcoholic,
You meet a hero.
His mortal enemy slumbers within him;
He can never outrun his disability.
He makes his way through a world of alcohol abuse,
In an environment that does not understand him.
Society, puffed up with shameful ignorance,
Looks on him with contempt,
As if he were a second-class citizen
Because he dares to swim against
the stream of alcohol. But you must know:
No better people are made than this.
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (1831-1910)
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: New England
Posts: 5,285
Thanks for the post. I have to say its an interesting perspective. I don't feel every day is a trial...I feel free, and happy. I don't spend time with people who think non-drinkers are losers...although I used to be one of them. I remember thinking people who didn't drink were strange...now I realize that was because I could not imagine a life without alcohol.
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Ontario
Posts: 81
I know there is a stigma attached with alcoholism. When I first quit drinking I felt like everyone would judge me. I still dread telling people, but everyone I tell seems to respond positively. Im slowly getting more comfortable. I told my whole pool team yesterday, and they all said "good for you". I think most people knew I was an alcoholic, so its like a step up to be a recovering one.
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 2,013
Originally Posted by April999 
they all said "good for you". I think most people knew I was an alcoholic, so its like a step up to be a recovering one.
It's easy to be a drunk which is why the consequences are so severe, recovery takes work but the rewards are priceless.
peace
not little, a stranger no more
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: in the crowd
Posts: 410
When I was still drinking, I used to think non-drinkers were lame. Funny thing, many people I know were reacting very enthusiastically when I told them I didn't drink anymore. I didn't even need to tell them that I'm an alcoholic. Many knew or suspected that my drinking was getting me into trouble. It doesn't make me feel like a loser to be a recovering alcoholic. Drinking did, in the end.
On some days, I'm just grateful that I have a place like this forum, where I know there will always be people that know how this feels.
Lately, ther are some days where I don't feel like it's a constant struggle anymore. Yes, there is some darkness, and it's part of me and it will always be there. But on these days, it doesn't feel like an enemy anymore.
They struggle with a demon that will never leave them.
Lately, ther are some days where I don't feel like it's a constant struggle anymore. Yes, there is some darkness, and it's part of me and it will always be there. But on these days, it doesn't feel like an enemy anymore.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Fluttering About
Posts: 3,760
Yesterday, the 13th, I celebrated 9,131 days of being clean and sober [25 years]. I am grateful to be one who surrendered to be a winner.
It takes a stronger person to walk away from the fight. It is the couragous person who crawls out of the gutter to be victorious. It is the person who puts down the shovel who says I have reached my bottom.
It takes a stronger person to walk away from the fight. It is the couragous person who crawls out of the gutter to be victorious. It is the person who puts down the shovel who says I have reached my bottom.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Hmm....... Darn shame he did not live to see the millions of recovered
alcoholics who are not either heros or losers.
My signature is my experience as a grateful recovered alcoholic.
No demons or struggles anymore for me.
God is doing for me what I could not do for myself"
is from the book....Alcoholics Anonymous...1st. Edition
Glad you are enjoying your new sobriety drent ...
Blessings to you and your family
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (1831-1910)
alcoholics who are not either heros or losers.
My signature is my experience as a grateful recovered alcoholic.
No demons or struggles anymore for me.
God is doing for me what I could not do for myself"
is from the book....Alcoholics Anonymous...1st. Edition
Glad you are enjoying your new sobriety drent ...
Blessings to you and your family
Its time for bed
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Undisclosed Location
Posts: 343
Originally Posted by Fluttering
Yesterday, the 13th, I celebrated 9,131 days of being clean and sober [25 years]. I am grateful to be one who surrendered to be a winner.
It takes a stronger person to walk away from the fight. It is the couragous person who crawls out of the gutter to be victorious. It is the person who puts down the shovel who says I have reached my bottom.
It takes a stronger person to walk away from the fight. It is the couragous person who crawls out of the gutter to be victorious. It is the person who puts down the shovel who says I have reached my bottom.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,288
It is hard when almost every show, movie, commercial has some happy couple, family dinner, pik-nik, romance and any other occasion on the planet, cheered on with a glass of wine, or some other drink with a little umbrella in it. We are brainwashed that "happy" moments are accompanied with a glass of alcohol. That beer is a happy afterwork moment. That a glass of wine is good for our health. (what they don't mention is that if a person is an alcoholic it never ends with just one beer or one glass of wine).
I know for me, that I would not even start drinking if I knew I could only drink one bottle of beer or one glass of wine. It seems just pointless to drink if you don't get a good buzz going and usually for me that was at least one six pack of beer, or one bottle of wine.
This is what is "not" advertised, but as we all know it, it's all too real.
I know for me, that I would not even start drinking if I knew I could only drink one bottle of beer or one glass of wine. It seems just pointless to drink if you don't get a good buzz going and usually for me that was at least one six pack of beer, or one bottle of wine.
This is what is "not" advertised, but as we all know it, it's all too real.
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