Wisdom of the Rooms August 24, 2009
 

"I'd rather go through life sober believing I'm an alcoholic, than go through life drunk, trying to prove I'm not."

I love it when newcomers share at meetings that they don't think they are alcoholics. Sure they like to party, they admit, and perhaps they had a DUI or two, or lost a job or made a bad scene, but they can control their drinking when they have to. Eventually someone points out that people who don't have a drinking problem are rarely at meetings trying to defend or explain their drinking!

For a long time I also resisted the idea that I might be an alcoholic. The longer I stayed sober and learned about the disease, and the more I compared my behavior with the alcoholics around me, the more I had to admit that I probably was one, too. Rather than be a sentence, though, this turned out to be the key that set me free.

Today, I've stopped debating whether I'm an alcoholic or not, and I choose to live a sober life. It's kind of like that saying about whether to believe in God or not: "I'd rather live my life believing that there is a God and find out in the end there isn't, than live my life believing there isn't a God and end up finding out there is."

In the end, it's about living a good life, and that's what sobriety allows me to do.

I agree with you Believe. I always said that if I never drank again the worst thing that could possibly happen is for me to find out in the end that I wasn't an alcoholic and I saved myself from years of drinking. Doesn't sound like such a biggie. But on the other hand if I chose to drink again who know what the worst that came happen is. I think I'll chose not to find out. It really doesn't matter much to me anymore whether I am or not. It is very unhealthy to drink whether you are an alcoholic or not.

I agree Philly. My life in sobriety is so much better even with the "stuff" than it ever was while I was using. I finally have a peace in my soul and I have such a close relationship with my HP. That in itself is so worth it.