SlowLane

I had an "anniversary" on Tuesday; I've been sober for 8 months. The first few months were pretty excruciating because I did it all on my own. I didn't go to AA, and I only told a handful of people (they were all quite thrilled, and they all said they were really worried about me.) Now, I look better, I feel better, and not being drunk all the time has become the norm for me. I gradually obsessed about alcohol less and less, and now I hardly think about it at all. I've gotten through social situations where everyone was drinking except me, including Christmas, New Years, and one time when a drunk friend was REALLY insistent that I drink with him. I'm not in the clear completely--I don't think I'll ever be--but I got through the nasty early months.

Having said that, I'm still here, and I'm not really thriving as a sober person. I'm still working in a crappy job where even my supervisors are younger than I am. A few years ago, I had to close a small business because I just couldn't hold it together enough to run it. The business didn't give me any hard skills an employer would appreciate, and none of my former clients would give me a good reference if I asked--only their secretaries, many of whom were former drinking buddies, would breathe a positive syllable about me. I drank through my first year at my current job, but I was enough of a functional alcoholic to hide it from everyone (my performance did improve when I quit, and everyone thought I lost weight, lol.) My work history is spotty, my network is small, and the only selling points I have are semi-passable-as-a-professional people skills and an ancient, dusty college degree that's gathering cobwebs. The party was way too fun to let it be interrupted by a career, but the party is over.

I know I'm not the first person to experience this, but I, personally, don't know anyone that has. Is there anyone in this forum that went through this and ultimately had a normal life after giving up the sauce? And if you have, what the hell am I supposed to do next? Should I just give up and stay in an unskilled, just-above-minimum-wage job? I definitely don't want to be a counselor--I just thought I'd throw that out there, lol. This is the only place I could think of to turn to, so I apologize if this is the 1000th time this question has been asked in this community.

Thank you all so much in advance!

Dee74

Hi SlowLane

could you add some more study to that dusty college degree?

D

SlowLane

Hi Dee. Tuition has gone way up and I'm not sure if more schooling automatically means more income, but yes, the fall term at the community colleges is coming up pretty soon. I won't lie... I'm not where I thought I'd be at my age, and I'm secretly freaking out below the surface, lol.

Dee74

I'm not American and my working life wasn't in private enterprise so there's no more advice I can offer really - I just thought more qualifications might help balance the lack of references.

Hope some of the other guys here might have better suggestions

D