Like everyone, I find myself going through stretches where I get complacent with my program, especially when I haven't felt the urge to drink in a few months and life is going fine... so I just had to share a story that happened recently...
One of our group of friends, who I see at the same meeting every week and hang out with at other times, has been sober about two years and seemed to be doing well, she recently started a great new job and is excited about her career. She's my age (late 30s), in good health, very social, lots of fun, always funny and positive.
Well, she relapsed. Two of my friends who hadn't heard from her in several days decided to go to her condo to check on her. On their way, she just happened to call one of them, and she said they would be up in a few minutes.
They got there and she didn't answer the door. Eventually they called 911. After arguing with the cops for awhile (they wanted to know how my friends didn't know she hadn't just stepped out, etc.), they broke in. They found her unconscious and could not find a pulse. They had to do CPR to revive her. Her BAC was over 0.5 in the ER. She very easily could have died, and probably would have if not for my friends showing up at just the right moment (I'm an atheist, but that could certainly be a sign if you wanted to take it that way!).
It's just a good reminder that I wanted to share that this disease always stalks us, and it's important to keep up one's guard because the possibility of picking up a drink is always there, and it really is a matter of life and death -- even if you're young and healthy.
GG...that may also be a HP shot for you also. That is a powerful reminder and used right will power your own recovery over a longer period of time. The disease comes after us without respect for how much we've learned and how long we've been abstinence. Horrible and still a fact. Relapse is the other "R" word in my program. Mahalo for the support ((((hugs))))
Can't remember if I read it here or heard it at a meeting but really early on someone said something about this that really stuck with me.
(Paraphrasing): "I need to keep myself fit. I need to make sure I do all the things I should be doing to stay sober because this disease doesn't go away. 5, 10, 20 years and it'll still be there, doing push ups and running laps, ready for the moment I weaken."
I use that image whenever I feel on top of things. Whenever I start to think that maybe I can skip a meeting or skimp on a principle because things are going well, I imagine a little cartoonish, muscle bound disease working out and grinning, because that is the sort of thing it has been training for.
Thanks for the reminder. I don't think we can ever get enough of them.
