Beligerent

Dave I have sent you a private message

keithj

Howdy Dave,



Yes. Find somebody in AA who has had a spiritual awakening as the result of taking the 12 Steps and have him walk you through that process. I have never seen this fail. Dr. Bob, one of the cofounders of AA had this to say after he had worked with a few hundred hopeless drunks:
That's what I thought as well. I drank because I was bored, anxious, couldn't sleep, excited, needed to celebrate, deserved to relax, was angry, somebody wronged me, the world wasn't fair. I drank for any number of seemingly good reasons. But none of them made a whole lot of sense given the consequences of my drinking. I came to learn that I drank because I was powerless not to. I had a mental obsession with it. As the result of the Steps, that obsession has been gone for a long time.

Let me ask you, if being bored is a good reason to drink, given the almost certain consequences of what happens when you drink. Maybe there is something else going on.

RobbyRobot

Yes Dave, I can say the same as Angelina, although it may not seem that way for you yet that staying clean becomes easier as you struggle through getting sober. It does get much better.

Many of us required real changes in our daily lives -- our friends our jobs and even our relationships with families and loved ones required an honest evaluation as we came to grips with the surrendering of ourselves to the life of sobriety.

Just not "drinking" is not enough to make the struggle easier. A changed life makes the struggle "easier". Keep on a path of recovery that works for you Dave, and you'll have the same freedoms and joys of sobriety that all sober alcoholics have and share together. You can do it.

Hevyn

Hi Dave! It was the "oh, I can just have one" way of thinking that damaged my life almost beyond repair. In 25 yrs. I made many attempts at sobriety but always failed, thinking I could control it using willpower. When I found SR I was on a month long binge & was desperate to get off the rollercoaster. The people here gave me the courage to banish booze from my life. It was no longer fun or relaxing - just poison to me.

Yes, it does get better and easier - I was in a state of shock for awhile. I knew I couldn't pick up again, but was afraid I'd never feel any better than I did in the beginning. As the days went by I learned to live again in a whole new way. You'll go through many phases as your mind and body heal from the damage.

We're glad you're here with us! Congratulations on your decision to give yourself a fresh start.

Spawn

At first it was hard to picture life without booze or drugs,...that's only because of the amount of time I spent on them. So to fill that void I went to meetings,...I volunteered and I started up some old child-hood hobbies. Do I miss the using or drinking,..not at all.
Using and drinking wasn't real,.......recovery is real,........it's awesome

ghal

Regarding your question about people being beneath you:
My sponsor is an oncologist, his sponsor is a successful retired businessman, the meeting I went to tonight is loaded with Physicians, Attorneys and other succesful professionals like myself. I also go to meetings with people that were or are currently living in half-way houses, homeless shelters and etc.. I also thought that I would feel better than the people around me before I learned that I had the same story they did but I was trying to quit before i hit ROCK bottom. As alcoholics our EGO's are huge and we are absolutely unable to see it until we start to experience some real humility. If you go to a meeting, there is only one requirement and that's the desire to quit drinking. If anyone tells you otherwise, find someone else to talk to. Now, I suggest that you announce yourself when they ask if there are newcomers because people will want to say hello and give you some phone numbers to call if you "choose" to do so. They will probably ask if you have any questions about the meeting or AA. I can't see why you wouldn't give it a real chance. Getting sober alone is a tough deal. Its much easier hanging out with a room full of people who totally understand the way your mind and body process alcohol