Good evening, been on this thing for a few weeks and figured I better make a post. I’m Scott and I’m an alcoholic, I’ve been sober a couple years and a few months.
My drinking carried with it a number of other compulsions and addictions that eventually tore my family away from me. I was in the most miserable of states of mental being. I thought I was past the worst part of it after I quit. I sank further into depression and isolation. I didn’t hit rock bottom until I had been sober for 9 months. After sitting most of the day with a fifth in one hand, daring myself to drink enough to have the courage to use the shotgun in the other, I knew it was my bottom. All the other times before that, it scared me to know I was that close to suicide, but that day it stopped scaring me. And that’s what scared me the most. I knew I needed more help than I could ever give myself. I had to reach out and get what I needed, and started step 1 the next day. Sobriety wasn’t enough for me, I needed recovery. Eventually, after enough therapy, finding the right church family and recovery group, I found the path that would lead me to recovery.
What is amazing to me is the commonalities that many of us suffer through in our recovery journeys. I’ve seen people fairly fresh into sobriety post about what they are going through, and I’m so thankful that I’ve all but forgotten about those stages. It’s been a great reminder of how far I’ve come, and it leaves me hopeful for them that they can get through the murky and get to a clearer future.
To my fellow sufferers; Find what works for you, brings you fellowship and sober friendships. Ride the lightning, get through it one little step at a time, one moment at a time, one day at a time. Don’t think of it as a prison sentence that you will never get to drink again, but as an unconditional release from its grasp. Stick with whatever program you develop and I hope you see the eventual benefits and blessings. I pray for your peace in whatever happened that gave you cause to pursue sobriety; and that you can forgive yourself so that you can begin healing.