JaySee

March/April 2004 – I was back on the booze again after recently stopping, on my own, for six months. I convinced myself that I would now only drink at weekends. As I had stopped for six months, “I obviously didn’t have a problem”, I thought. Well how wrong I was. I thought I knew everything, but I knew nothing.

I now realised I had to stop for good. My life was chaotic. I Googled “alcohol” and “forum” as I had used forums before for PC related stuff. Up popped SR and I was so impressed I bookmarked it. Later I joined, but my early posts were lost in the great crash of that time. So I rejoined and started posting again, reading and making friends.

The main thing that SR gave me at that time was the encouragement to go to AA. I really didn’t want to go. I had held off going for years. But the people at SR told me it was OK, it worked, and most of all, it was just a bunch of people who wanted to stop drinking. I had this notion (like a lot of people) that AA was full of freaks and losers. My arrogance was huge, I was in the gutter and still looking down on everybody. But by conversing with the AAs on SR, I soon saw that they really were normal (LOL) people – just like me

Well the advice was sound advice. AA is now working for me in a way a never thought was possible back in those days when I sat here scoffing at the people who sang its praises. I could stop drinking, done that many times, but I couldn’t stay stopped. AA has shown me the way to stay stopped, one day at a time and the rewards are too many to mention here.

I really am grateful to SR, the good people who frequent here, for starting my REAL recovery, for giving me the encouragement I needed to seek out the help I so desperately needed but was too far in denial to ask for. For that alone I will always be very very grateful.