I just found this website and thought I would make a quick post. I wouldn't say I am what might be considered as a typical alcoholic. I drink fairly infrequently, but do find that when I drink I often get drunker than I anticipated. Typically when this happens I swear off drinking only to repeat the mistake some months down the road.
In any event, a recent DUI got me thinking about my past drinking. I came to the realization that I do have a problem. Knowing my past history I know that going forward I will have to maintain complete sobriety, otherwise I have no doubt I will only eventually repeat my past mistakes. I am making plans to attend an AA meetting this coming week.
I realize my problems probably pale in comparison to many others, but I feel as if I have ruined my entire life and am in severe depression at the moment. I hope by knowing what others have overcome that I can find some optimism for going forward.
Welcome to MIP, Tray. Rise & shine to new beginnings.. There is a wonderful life after alcohol.. The work's hard but the wages are good! If you want what we have & are willing to go to any lengths.. Follow the instructions ;) On a more obvious note, enjoy your meetings. Make friends in fellowship with those who are making a loving success with our program of recovery, bed in, get comfortable, make yourself at home, open your mind, listen to learn.. With you all the way.. You need never be alone again, Danielle x
-- Edited by Sobrietyspell on Sunday 14th of March 2010 10:55:06 PM
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Progress not perfection.. & Practice makes Progress!
Aloha Tray. The support will be at your meeting and here at MIP. We get a huge benefit from giving away that which has gotten us and kept us sober. We get to keep it and watch it work all over again for you and others. The disease that we live with is incurable. We either get sober or reach insanity and/or death. I've never gotten a DUI. I'm and old drunk and all we use to get were tickets for inattention and loss of control (lol at least). I have overdosed a few times. Toxic shock is one step before an obituary. I got to do what you have just done now... reach out for help and then accept it. Like Dean said...stick around it helps us stay sober.
Wow, I am having major flashbacks to events were I drank more than I intended. Hard to believe some of them wouldn't have stuck with me and acted as a red flag the next time I started to drink. I feel ashamed, embarassed and depressed right now. Certainly reinforces in my mind that I have a problem. I do appreciate everyones support, it is helpfu.
Hi Tray, There are specific things to help you determine if you have an alcohol problem. There are also answers. You don't have to do anything if you choose not to. I would highly recommend a meeting, check it out. If you are willing to put it out there here on this site, it can't hurt to try. Besides, meetings are not usually anything like what most of us thought before we bothered to go. When I listen, I hear similarities way more often that noting differences, it has changed my life in positive ways I couldn't have imagined before when I was mired in depression and anxiety.
I overcame (for today) daily drinking....it was on it's way to becoming round the clock. I totalled my car, yet somehow did not get a DUI. The consequences I did have were to my body, spirit, and mental state. I also retarded my functioning level to a childlike state in which I did very little to take care of myself other than go to work and come home and get drunk for several years.
Today...I am very active. I know I can get most ordinary life tasks done and I am not nearly as fear driven as I was. If I need help, I ask questions rather than just ignore life and expect things to get done for me magically while I am drunk and checked out. It's a big change.
For me there are so many times I could remember drinking too much that I could be depressed all the time...really I am mostly grateful that the nightmare is over for today. When I went to a meeting to get my 1 year medallion (6 months ago), I passed by a gas station I used to live by. I had a flashback of a time I got lost trying to walk home in my own neighborhood and tripping up and down the streets for hours until I wound up at that gas station to call home and get a ride to the 4 blocks down the road that I lived but somehow could not find. It was pretty powerful to have that flashback on my anniversary date.
So yeah. If I can do it, so can you. And believe it or not...I didn't think I had a problem for the longest....
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Keep coming back. It works if you work it. So work it. You're worth it!
Good morning! welcome to a "new " day!We have an allergy to the alcohol,its not how much or how often but how we react to it!!Think thats been stated here.Glad you found us,stick around and continue to help us remain sober!!
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Selfishness-self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles.
Welcome! I understand what you mean when you say that your problems pale in comparison to others but you feel like you have ruined your life. I got sober young, so I've never had a DUI, lost a job, a partner, or anything like that due to my drinking. But I would drink more than I had intended and drank at times that I didn't want to drink, simple as that. And I felt like my life was ruined - like something was wrong with me that I couldn't imagine was fixable. Yet here I am, all fixed up and happy!
It shows a good deal of honesty and clarity that you realize the only solution is to not drink at all. Keep in touch and let us know how your meeting goes!
Thanks Larry, I am attending my first meeting this Thursday. My life is starting to feel better just from the kind words I've received in the last day, so I look forward to seeing what the next 89 days brings.
One suggestion, when you go to your 1st meeting make sure and tell them when they ask if it's anyone's 1st meeting. You should be in for a pleasant surprise. Most of our stories are basically the same. We drank and suffered consequences. If you can get sober without suffering the consequences many of us have, by all means do it! The wonderful thing is we have all found a common solution and it's contained in the A.A. program. We get a sponsor, get honest, work the steps, and remain humble. I tell you one thing, some of the greatest friends I have are in this program, and the thing about it is, they want nothing in return for their time and friendship! It's a beautiful thing, this getting sober. Hope you stay and enjoy this gift of sobriety
