LIVING RECOVERY : TRUE STORYS

Family Man

“I would never have done the things I did had I been Sober!”

I am an Alcoholic but have now been sober for over 23 years thanks to the help of Alcoholics Anonymous. Twenty Four Years ago my Life was a real mess. I thought everything was OK and that it was only unforeseen circumstances rocking my world, when in essence it was my out of control drinking. My family could not understand my behaviour which could seem genuine and yet minutes later was a total lie with me doing all the things I had just promised never to do again.

I was born at the end of the war years into a very happy hard working family and my parents strived to give me a good education and grounding for the future. I had been given a good set of morals to live by and strived to adhere to them; Then Alcohol got in the way. I was introvert and shy but a little of the hard stuff lifted me into an outgoing extrovert; a life where I was the soul of the party, generous to all. Unfortunately my persona was falsely driven by alcohol and the generosity only for purchasing affection. My drinking removed a house, (our family home), a business, created difficulties in keeping our children at school, nearly removed my family from me, and nearly removed me from the book of life; And yet I thought I was in control. How crazy was that?

I was to learn in AA, that Alcoholism is an illness and is controllable a day at a time. If I don’t take the first drink I can’t get drunk. Putting down the drink was easy. Leaving it alone was another problem but Alcoholics Anonymous showed me the way to a happy life, totally free of alcohol.I still attend meetings of AA and enjoy every minute of them. I have a happy family who respect what I have achieved and maintain a day at a time. I am not boring and miserable without Alcohol. In fact I am the complete opposite. If Alcoholics Anonymous can do so much for me, it can do the same for you, if you want it! If you are doing things under the influence of Alcohol that you would never dream of doing sober or if you feel your life would be better if you didn’t drink, give AA a determined go as I did.