"The problem with isolating is that you get such bad advice."
By the end of my drinking and using, I was all alone. Unlike some of the stories I hear about people drinking in bars, I preferred to drink alone in my home, and after months of listening to my own best thinking I had run out of options and was at the end of my rope. By some miracle, I was able to reach out, and my journey in recovery began.
While I have worked the steps several times over the years, and worked hard to turn my character defects over to God, I still find that my default mode is to isolate. And when I do, I am cut off from others and from my Higher Power and that's when my best thinking starts again. I've learned that it never has anything good to say.
Today I do the things I learned to do early in sobriety to keep from isolating: I have a sponsor; I get commitments at meetings, and I say yes when asked to participate. In other words, I continue to take contrary action because, as they say, "An alcoholic's best thinking treats loneliness with isolating."
And when I'm isolating, the advice I get is all bad.