Hmmmm....Was my worst day sober really better than my best day drunk?

Reflections....

....on the Road to Recovery

 

My worst day sober was better than my best day drunk.

I've heard this saying for a long time. Several years ago I stopped and really thought about the statement as it relates to my life. The simple answer I came up with is that your answer depends on how you look at things... I wrote the following short story that explained this in more detail

Recovery from Alcoholism- Gratitude and Blessings

During my days of drinking, I'm not sure what I would have said if someone asked me what I was grateful for. I'm not sure I even had an understanding of what that word meant. I would say things like, "Man, I was lucky to get that or have this". Or, "Well, I worked hard for it,  it I deserve it."  I took so many things large and small for granted. As if I deserved it - like this is the way it should be.

What are the principles we are supposed to "practice in all our affairs"?

I attended a meeting a while ago where the lead and discussion were on Step 12,  (Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.)  When it was their turn to speak, a person who had been around for a while, but less than a year, asked this question.  "What does it mean,  and practice these principals in all our affairs"? They went on.....

Recovery from alcoholism- A promise

I have been in meetings with lots of newcomers to AA during my years of sobriety. I listen to their struggles from both a life perspective and most intently from an emotional perspective. They describe their fears, remorse, depression, loneliness, along with their desire to stay sober. The pain in their faces is not hard to recognize. Neither is the uncertainty of their lives to follow….

I remember this time in my life very well.  I remember thinking, well I may not ever drink again (nor do I want to), but this is for sure: I will never laugh or enjoy laughing again like those guys sitting at that front table yucking it up all meeting long.

Recovery from alcoholism- The sorry plight of the "functioning alcoholic"

Reflections....

....on the Road to Recovery

                                          The sorry plight of the "Functioning Alcoholic"

First, here are a few of the tendencies I would use to describe a functioning alcoholic (someone who is dependent on alcohol to cope with life, but who has managed to keep functioning without getting into "too much trouble"):

• They rarely miss work due to drinking.

• They try to control when and how much they drink- they are constantly aware of this need to "control" their drinking.

• They do not want people to know how much they drink.

• They try to hide their drinking from others. (Although they believe they are sneakily successful at this, almost all around them know they drink to excess.)

• They are very moody, restless, irritable and discontent until they get the needed level of alcohol in their system.

• They attribute alcohol-related or aggravating illnesses, like stomach problems, sleeping problems, nervousness, skin issues, and even life threatening diseases,  to anything other than their continual, excessive drinking. 

But that's not the essence of what I want to share.....

The "Ism" in Alcoholism - Below the Surface

 

A friend of mine recently gave an analogy of the complete picture of our disease. The analogy goes something like this:

Our actual abuse of alcohol and  its damage to us and others is like the tip of  an iceberg. Only a symptom of our problem. What lies underneath the surface is the total iceberg of our disease - the "ism" that is the engine that drives our alcohol abuse.

I think this "ism' is driven by our negative attitudes, resentments, selfishness, angers, fears, and the rest of our character defects.

So what I get out of this is,  if we want the tip of the iceberg (abuse of alcohol) to be removed, we need to get underneath the waves to address  the "exact nature of our wrongs".

Please share:

What are your thoughts on this analogy?

How would you describe the "ism"  in this analogy?

Have you ever experienced "untreated alcoholism" where you are not drinking, but that's about it for being positive?

How are you addressing the "rest of the iceberg" in terms of your recovery?