Reader Blog

Promoted from the reader blogs. I want to thank nicolew for sharing her story with us- hang in there Nicole, we are rooting for you.

Today was a pretty chaotic day at work, I'm not feeling well and as the day came closer to an end my first thought was to grab a drink before I went home, then take something to stop the stuffiness and get some good sleep. I realized that it is that exact pattern that I have to stop. It's that first thought of how to deal with ANYTHING in my life that gets me to want to take that drink.

I am fortunate to not have a lot of drinkers around me where I live. All of my friends that I speak to on the phone are still drinkers, but those close to me don't drink at all. I am finding thing to be a tremendous help in that the temptation is not staring me in my face. I only have to monitor my own behavior, not the behavior of my friends and how that affects me. If I was to going to give any advice, that would be the first bit- surround yourself with people who don't drink.

During that hour before it was time to go home I thought about those of you on this site who have provided support for me. I actually opened up the site at work to read some of the inspiration and support that you have provided. I feel so much better that I came home to write in this blog than going out to get a drink.

Thank you thank you thank you.

Promoted from the reader blogs. I want to thank friend and contributor gatinha for her insightful posts. Be sure to check out the rest of her blog.

I spent years trying to drink normally. After a few days or weeks of staying dry, I'd convince myself, yet again, that I could have a few drinks and stop, just like other people could.

After I went to A. A. the first time, and admitted that I was an alcoholic, I stayed sober for six months. I remember how casually I reached for the glass of wine that was set in front of me. This time it would be different, I thought. Of course it wasn't. I didn't get drunk that night and was real proud of myself. That first drink, however, started many more years of getting drunk and waking up after a blackout.

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It’s hard to rationalize that next drink after speaking out loud the latest excuse, to feel all alone when in a meeting room full of alcoholics, and even harder to break faith with your program when it has been aired in the public forum. That’s because alcoholic thinking wilts under scrutiny. The dark mental process that warps logic until a drink becomes the answer to alcoholism cannot survive when exposed to the light of day.

That is why it’s so important in early sobriety to share one’s struggle and avoid brooding alone. The same goes for those with some recovery under their belt. It doesn’t take much to slip back into old habits; a solid recovery requires attentive maintenance. Of course it takes much more than an open acknowledgment of our problem to find sobriety and enter recovery, it also takes diligent hard work, brutal honesty, and discipline. One thing is for sure though, lock an alcoholic up in a room with just their thoughts and there won’t be a problem they can’t solve… by drinking.

I would like to highlight a reader blog tonight by nicolew that covers a topic we all have experienced, and many will repeat: Day Zero. Not only I am proud of a fellow alcoholic taking the steps to address her disease, but just as encouraged to see other readers in recovery respond to her post in support. Thank you Gatinha and JanineT!

I stopped drinking a hundred times, only to hit day zero again and again- sometimes twice in the same day. I know how hard it can be, how powerless one can feel, and yet I also know that you can make it through the day Nicole. My advice; start with a clock instead of a calendar. Hour one starts…