Untoxicated

This post is brought to you in part by Snarf. After reading Snarf-dawg's post the other day it inspired me to take action on something that I've been thinking about only recently.

Until yesterday, I had been dealing with cravings for a beer for a solid four days; each day bringing with it stronger cravings. Monday was my most difficult battle with the drink since my first two weeks. Tuesday it was gone, just like that. I hadn't been aware of "extended-craving." I must've missed that in the Sobriety Handbook.

I drank irresponsibly for about six years and decided (for the 501st time) to throw in the towel last October. Tuesday I decided to ring my graduate school to see if I could be reinstated - they have a policy that requires one to complete the degree within five years from your last class. My last class was in 2004 - I had been drinking irresponsibly for six years...sounds about right.

After two days of phone calls and trying to get in touch with the director, I was informed that for a matter such as this I would have to come in for a face-to-face. Fair enough.

I went to my appointment today and without getting into too much detail I explained my situation and the director suggested that I type up a brief note along with the courses that I've completed (I'd completed over half of the program so far) and email it to him.

At this point I had three options:

1. Reapply and start over.
2. Reapply and start where I left off.
3. Reinstate (with approval) and start where I left off.

After leaving his office I spent some time compiling the necessary information and sent it to him. Within two hours he let me know that the dean had approved my reinstatement. I didn't have to reapply and hope for acceptance or restart from scratch. I tried as hard as my intellect would allow me to get into this school. I was denied entrance (2002) the first time and had to wait a year to reapply (2003) before I was accepted.

I guess my lesson is that I hear a lot about "Just for Today" as it relates to staying sober and "Don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow never comes." Had I drank Monday, I likely would have felt like crap and not had the initiative to call the school. My "tomorrow" would have been ruined by my drinking "today." It was a bit of a revelation to finally stop being so focused on immediate gratification and to put some mental capital into my delayed gratification fund...and then to see I had interest, not simple but compound.

So many other good things happened Tuesday that I was able to appreciate sober (for example, my mom ordered food and went to pay but the cashier stated, "it's paid for by the lady who just left, she does it all the time as a random act of kindness." How cool is that???)

At any rate I just wanted to share how awesome tomorrow can be if you can make the right decisions today. Just for tomorrow I won't drink today.

(Just for fun I wanted to see what the graduate program was ranked since I last checked seven years ago. Tenth in the nation.)

Sobriety: I put that sh!t on everything!

DrunkenBasement

Interesting and so true. Thanks for your insight.

ItWillBeWorthIt

This is beyond exciting news Untox.... just SO happy for you. I was wondering why you weren't over at the gratitude thread lately, you have been busy.

It will be great going back to school.

And, I couldn't agree with you more... tomorrow will not be the same if we choose to drink today.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post and to remind us all.

Dee74

Thanks for the great post untox - and congratulations on being reaccepted

D

lyddie

Congratulations! I am impressed.

Sneezy

Way to go, Untox!!!!!!!!!!

This is great inspiration for any of us who despair that it is too late and who have given up hope.

Maryjan

Congratulations!!

marni

Congratulations untox,
what a positive post
good on you your dedication the sobriety has meant you now have opportunities that would have passed you by

Hevyn

What fabulous news, Untox. You're doing great - so proud of you!

Danae

Fantastic!

I love hearing stories with happy endings

Zebra1275

Wow, that's great news! Best of luck in the completion of your graduate program!

Reubena

Kudos on your initiative Untox! Great to read

Untoxicated

Rambling Threat Advisory Color: Orange (High Risk of Useless Information)

IWBWI, I was a bit nervous about being turned down and nervous about being accepted! I remember the program being incredibly demanding and at one point I thought that I had lucked into admission because EVERY person in EVERY class was brilliant. They were all like mini-Einsteins.

I was a Biology major and for added punishment I got my minors in Chemistry and Psychology so Business was a foreign entity to me. I remember taking Accounting and the guys in my group were breezing through it (although one was an accountant and one a CPA – the Physical Therapist even found it only mildly challenging) and I bombed the first two exams despite intense study efforts. I thought a debit was something a frog with a lisp said when I first started the class. Something clicked in time for the final and I scored almost as well as the CPA (the grade leader amongst us) and got a…drum roll please…B+ in the class! Hahaha! I have never been so proud of a B+ in my entire life – the A’s in Biochem, Calculus, Physics, and Genetics paled in comparison; it was fridge material.

The turning point for me was that the next class we took together dealt with logic, critical thinking, and a bit of philosophy. I loved this class and aced it and I couldn’t understand why my group was struggling with it and hated it so much. We all have our strengths and thankfully this lesson was more valuable than any that I had learned in the classroom; once again I felt as if I did belong in the program after all.

It’s just a nice feeling to know that I have a choice in the direction of my life once again. I’m very grateful for that.

least

I am so glad to hear of this good news for you.

jerseytomato

Yay! Proof a craving doesn't always get you drunk. You can get through them! In the past I was on autopilot to the liquor store during a craving. This post is really an inspiration to me to get through the most intense cravings.

Congratulations!

LexieCat

For me, the coolest thing about sobriety is that I now have options. I had no choices in life while I was drinking--I was too busy wrestling with damage control and trying not to sink.

Congrats!

Untoxicated

I just wanted to share some more (potential) good news...

When I made the decision to return to school, I did so knowing that I would likely have to pay for it myself. I've been a bit stressed about how I was going to come up with the cash for such a thing and I decided to inquire about it at work.

It turns out there is a tuition reimbursement program that pays 50% up to a yearly maximum...holla! I spoke with our HR department about it and they will be getting back to me to let me know if I'm eligible. (When I had originally looked at the company benefits, tuition reimbursement wasn't listed but it is listed in our policy and procedures manual.)

I can't tell you how awesome having some financial assistance on this would be (I'm still licking my financial wounds from my previous stupidity).

Thanks for letting me share gang.

I forgot to add that this time last year I had been unemployed for over a year - what a difference a year makes!

Fandy

I really needed to read this thread today...thanks for sharing the good things!

wonderful news both on picking up your schooling without starting over and financial assistance!

Dee74

great news on the assistance Untox

D

Untoxicated

Thanks Fandy and Dee, life is really starting to come along.

I hope you feel better Fandy.