43395

Last night I dreamed of Michael Elphick, a much loved , British actor with a prodigous amount of stage, screen and television appearances, we share the same birth year, 1946, and thus would have been the same age.

Michael Elphick, was an alcoholic, a fact he admitted and was widely publicised at the time of his death, causedby an alcohol induced heart attack in 2002. Prior to this he admitted to drinking 2 litres of spirits a day.
He had , in the past attended AA meetings and had himself admitted to,'the Priory', one of the well known and much publicised chain of Rehabilitation Clinics, much frequented by the rich and famous and their offspring, noted by the fact, as was pointed out to me by someone regarded with love and respect in AA, that all they do is turn out,'dry drunks' who upon discharge just return to their alcoholism. A fact I've witnessed for myself.

With all that they provide, it seems they lack the understanding of what a,'real' alcoholic is,a term that first appears in the first line of Chapter 3,'More about Alcohol-ISM' , my interpretation of the word, in the ,'Big Book' Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Ed., which for me, in my drinking days was a fact that was hard to grasp, I suspect,'denial' played a large part in that, that for a,'real' alcoholic, alcohol, no matter what your rank, position or status in life , where you are, how much money you've got, whether you're happy or sad, instantly makes everything ALRIGHT !!!, something it doesn't do to , 'normal social drinkers', in fact after one or two drinks they'll probably complain of feeling a little,'woosy ' or nauseous.

Reflecting on this and Michael Elphick, who I once had the pleasure to meet at a beachside , Bar-B-Que, bar and restaurant in Portugal, I was on holiday there, of course he owned a villa. Given his demise in 2002, and the circumstances surrounding it , I realise that to date I have lived 8 years longer, more importantly 952 days of that period I've been sober, this then is the real value of sobriety. I may not have all that I want, but I have all that I need, with the added bonus of sobriety in which the god of my understanding has played a significant part, let's us have no misunderstanding there.

I hope , in writing this I haven't been to hard on Michael Elphick, or to his memory , in truth there are millions like him, good, talented people who suffer from alcohlism and never get sober, it was simply motivated by my dream, although I can't think of one reason as to why that should have ocurred, may be the god of my understanding was giving me a little nudge, I had a day mixed with a bout of depression yesterday and until I distracted myself with a visit to my local library and the contents a a good book, the latest best seller by a well known , but new crime novelist, whose hero, Det. Inspector Thorne, would, when I come to think of it, been admirably played by Michael Elphick, he was made for the part. Sober or not, life's really funny at times, better sober though, the view is so much better! Mike W.

firestorm090

Thanks Mike, that's a great post! I like that part about "better sober though, the view is so much better".

Glad you're here and hope you'll post much more.

43395

Hi thanks for your response and the comment about the past, I must admit , even in sobriety I held on to mine, still do at times but in my ,'spiritual' journey I found Buddhist principles and psychology a grear help, particularly, 'The Four Noble TRuths' which deal with,'suffering' and all that surrounds it, leading to,'enlightenment' which in truth is not as mystic or difficult as it appears.

I'llk ask one rhetorical question,'Why do the most spiritual people,experience the most suffering'

OkayI'll throw in a,'koan' as well,'What is the sound of one hand clapping?'. . . . .answers on a postcard please, to . . .me.