laurie6781

(((((Holly)))))

As has been said, everybody's 'bottom' is different. Some have been really LOW like mine, taking it to the max, living on the streets, and dying in the ER. Others, have been smarter and less stubborn and have found recovery before they were totally bankrupt in every area of their lives.

Check out a bunch of meetings, all over your city, in your own area, in the 'fancy' neighborhoods and in the poor neighborhoods.

I finally in my early recovery figured out that not everybody had to take their alcoholism to where I did, when I found out that there were 400 meetings a week in Beverly Hills. Yep, Beverly Hills. No one living on the the streets there, lol

When you are at a meeting, listen for the similarities not the differences. Listen to their feelings. Listen to how they tried to hide their feelings of hurt, rejection, etc. Somehow, when I listen for the similiarities each meeting becomes a 'soution meeting' for me.

J M H O

Love and hugs,

jobei

You don't have to suffer unless you want to.

onlythetruth

There are a lot of dangerous ideas bandied about in the name of recovery--but none, in my opinion, are more dangerous than the notion that a person must "hit bottom" before they can recover.

I've seen too many people die, thinking they "can't" quit 'til things get worse.

ChickenStu

A moment where you realise the game is up - can be as effective as any so called "rock bottom".

I managed to pull myself out of the abyss before I hit my rock bottom. I had the benefit of knowing what my rock bottom would be. And I know what it WILL be if I pick up a glass again.

michelle01

Great point and far more helpful at meetings.

I'd also like to add, different meetings can have a different tone. I went to several meetings in early recovery, including an inner city one where there were some real hard hitting stories, about incarceration, homelessness, etc. They were valuable for me and have definitely stayed with me, however I've never really experienced that side of life, those depths of this disorder.

At the outer suburban meetings, I seemed to find more people I could find something in common with apart from being an alcoholic. A lot of people who on the surface had pretty normal lives but their private difficulty with alcoholism, that was fairly much me. So you may want to try a range of meetings and see what you get from them.

Symmetry

The further I get in to my sobriety I start to think I was so silly for ever thinking I was an alcoholic. Seems a bit dramatic? But then I read that there are phases to Alcoholism. I was lucky enough to stop before "get your kids taken" phase "divorce" phase "lose your job" "have an affair" "DUI" or "death". I was in the beginning phase. It was so hard to quit in the beginning phases and I imagine it's much harder to quit in the more advanced phases. STOP. Please. For you and the life you deserve

eJoshua

This is probably what scared me into sobriety -- near the end of my drinking not even booze could make me feel better. I knew if I kept drinking I would end up killing myself because I was hopeless.