sporty306

I wanted to say hello and introduce myself. I am new to this site but not new to a lot of the information here. I have been struggling for 15 years now with on again off again sobriety and I want to change this cycle before it costs me my life. Any help or advice that I can learn here, I am grateful for.
I do not have issues admitting that I am an alcoholic, I have known that I had no control for at least the last 12 years. I have been to treatment and had some success with it. I have trouble changing my relationships and "celebrating" long periods of sobriety with equally long periods of drunken abandon. I need help, I am in a small town and I have managed to pull through all of this with a successful business and an amazing ability to stay under the radar where drinking is concerned. I know that this process of mine will not last.
Thanks for listening.

Dee74

welcome to SR sporty306

I flew under the radar for many years too...untill my addiction overtook me.
It's great you're looking for help now before things progress

You'll find a lot of support and ideas here

D

least

Welcome to the family. Good that you're getting a grip on this addiction before it gets worse. You'll find lots of support and useful information here.

Anna

Hi and Welcome,

I stayed under the radar too, or so I thought. It was only after the veil of denial was lifted that I realized a lot of people knew something was going on.

I'm glad you decided to post.

onlythetruth

The "double life" part of it was the among the worst, if not THE worst, part of being being addicted, from my viewpoint. It was absolute hell. Worse than the hangovers, and those were bad enough.

There are a bunch of us here who have left that life in the rearview mirror. We've all got different stories, we've got different ideas and philosophies, we've quit drinking in different ways, with different programs (and with no program).

But one thing I think we'll all agree on is that you do not have to live that way anymore.

wayfarm2

Perhaps it is us business owners that are the sneakiest. If I don't show up for work, so what? I'll get it done tomorrow. However, that won't float for long. Good Luck on your recovery.

Fandy

Only you know what is going on in your life and how lucky you are to still have a successful business. this can change drastically if you can't keep up the facade, and believe me it will get impossible faster than you think.

congrats on starting a new sober way of living, you can amaze yourself.

tanja

Welcome Sporty. There is a lot of support and love here.

Zebra1275

Welcome!

One thing I found about living a double life is that it takes a lot of time and energy to pull it off. If you give up living the double life, life can actually be easier. You will have more time, energy and money.

grateful101010

Living a double life, one of them drunk, amounts to living only about 1/4 of one life. You'll agree with me after about 1 month of sobriety. Welcome.

WritingFool

I can identify with your situation, sporty. I have a visible position in my smallish community too and I have never, ever told anyone and I fully plan to keep it that way. no one's business, IMO. As long as you don't use the fact that no one knows as an excuse to get wasted, then you are ok.

Berdant

Welcome, Sporty. I too was so tired of the lies, sneaking drinks, hiding bottles, etc and it became very stressful. I hated what I allowed myself to become. I would wake up hating myself so much for drinking yet again. I have lots people who depend on me for so much at work and if they only new about my 'other life' I know they would not trust or want me there anymore. I love my job and the people I work with and was so worried to lose that. But most importantly, my family means the world to me and I felt like I was stealing so much 'mom/wife time' from them.

It's a whole new lease on life that I've allowed myself - you can do this too. Good luck and keep posting. There's a lot of us here to offer support and love.

Image101

Hi sporty. It sounds like you are very aware of your problem and potential future if you continue. You're in a good position to start recovery!!

sissy07

Welcome to SR!!!!

Tigger41

Hi sporty. Great that you're here reaching out. Just think how much easier it's going to be only having one life to worry about. Not having to stress about people "finding out" not having to hide. I'm just starting to feel the freedom of that.

Good luck