For me it shows how important good recovery depends on a good recovery program, a good recovery program needs good recovering people, in this I am blessed.
I was consumed with negative thinking, intolerance & Resentment as character defects and anger was the result. My recovery program showed me other ways to channel negative thinking. I had to be honest about how you are feeling, not easy. Anger is all consuming and will lead you to a bad place, for me that was and can be drinking.
Greed, disease or whatever, for the alcoholic/addict the end is the same, A life of misery & wretched existence.
Narla you have blossomed in the time that I have known you, you struggled at times of that their is no doubt but you did the most important thing for any recovering addict, you listened with an open mind & learned about yourself. You work the program every day.
I am so proud of you :)
Ray
It is great to know there are people that do understand.and yes Sara in the last 11 months my whole life has done a 360 degree turnaround.I now know who I am,for 34 years I hated who I was and didn't understand ME now I have goals and a purpose to be the best person I can be,to try and help others and hopefully to try and never hurt anyone ever again with my words or actions.
It is how I want to live now.
Something I don't say often enough is,congratulations Sara,Ibizan and Ray on your clean times,the times are amazing,it is something I'm looking forward to achieving.I just need to stay focussed
It is futile to debate with one who does not believe in the disease concept.For us that do it keeps us ever vigilant and more determined to accept the fact that one of ANYTHING is too many and a 1000 is never enough!
And say it with conviction!!!!
You hadnt posted when i thanked the other 2 for being a part of my recovery so i am thanking you also. I have watched you from the first time you came to the forum and what a wonderful person you have become. You were so scared and alone and now you have just blossomed. I am so proud of you.......sara
With the help from friends at medhelp and my recovery program I will win this fight,
It is harder than I thought it would be at this stage of sobriety but I can't go back,I will keep my guard up at all times,this is forever.Thank You Ray for the vote of confidence,I don't normally swear but I'll tell that demon on my shoulder to f--k off,he's not needed anymore.
i am so very glad and grateful i have cybermet all of u.......so enjoy our conversations,notes and sharing of ideas and wisdom/lifes experiences we have encountered deal with and will continue to deal with...with the tools of our individual recovery programs!
Narla, I think Ray just summed it all up for you........
Yes guys it was a good day, no drama just time spent in good company. A few problems shared and resolved. Now heading off for a good night sleep :)
Narla you are winning that fight and can hold your head high and be proud. You are doing the right things.....
When it hurts to look back
and your scared to look ahead
you can look beside you
and your friend will be there :)
Ray
My greed was trying to get the better of me but I'll keep fighting,if addiction is not a disease then why would we willingly put ourselves through getting and staying clean,Why does addiction run in families,It has been proven that it is genetic,and I have spoken to a geneticist about my sons Tourette Syndrome read Tourette Syndrome and Associated Disorders written by David Cummings.Where are your facts on addiction do you have any or is this just your theory.Just curious,It would be easier for me to just keep drinking but the fact that I know this disease will kill me is the reason I put all my effort into not drinking.Greed doesn't kill disease does
Look at how blessed we are. We walked into our recovery with an open mind and were willing to really work it. We all have our struggles but at the end of the night we sit and look around at all we have, clean and sober. Thank you also to you both for being a part of my recovery~~~~~sara
The fainting goat took a nap??!!!
yes ...so much to be grateful for!i took a vacation day.....sorely needed....quiet...peaceful...restorative....enjoying the company of my lovely greyhounds...just awoke from a 3 hour nap with them!And Rod u got to enjoy Sandy and the kids and Sarah u r always surrounded by canine love and the antics of the beagle and Calamity!:)
I spent time with my Sister & her kids this morning, it was most enjoyable.
Life is OK today thanks to my recovery program.
amen to that Sara :) We have much to be grateful for.....
Ray
Today we are grateful for our recovery program........amen
RE: ""If people like you STOPPED making alcohol an excuse and a disease""
What is that about?
I treat people on here with courtesy and respect, I accept you feel strongly about this topic but making it personal is of no benefit to anyone :)
I remember Mother Jones!!! We are dating ourselves here!!! LOL
U r very welcome....I have an original softbound copy of Jack Trimpeys The Small Book in my attic somewhere...bought it off a back cover ad from Mother Jones magazine.....remember that left wing radical magazine?I liked his analogy of the desire to drink in our heads being nicknamed the BEAST....and entertaining a dialogue with the BEAST telling him where to go!
Thanks for the info ibizan!!
Intuitive Recovery appears to be a nice pirating of rational emotive behavioral concepts that originated from an american named Jack Trimpey who wrote The Small Book in 1990.Jack Trimpey took concepts from Rational Emotive Therapy pioneer Albert Ellis who was big in the 80's.Albert Ellis took concepts from Reality Therapy pioneer William Glasser who was big in the late 70's.Good material that is common sense and empowering but not new by any sense of the word.
God put us here on earth, what we do with it is up to us.......My "silly" organization has never turned their back on me either but i also didnt go there with a closed mind........sara
Well I have to say that my experience was very much the opposite, I did relapse a few months after I stopped drinking and it was friends from AA who helped me to get back on track. I found them to be very helpful and non judgmental.
I dont know anything about this intuative recovery program but would like to know more :)
I am Happy and sober (8 years now) thanks to one of the so called "silly organisations".
It was of little importance to me then or now if I was diagnosed or not, what is important was getting & staying sober. I was treated for alcohol dependence & DT's with medication during a hospital detox. Doctors did say that because of a strong family history of alcoholism that it could be genetic, who am I to disagree and would it change anything? I dont think so :)
What about Fetal alcohol syndrome, is that not a disease?
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa30.htm
Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes the following four symptoms:
Craving—A strong need, or urge, to drink.
Loss of control—Not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun.
Physical dependence—Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety after stopping drinking.
Tolerance—The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get "high."
For clinical and research purposes, formal diagnostic criteria for alcoholism also have been developed. Such criteria are included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, published by the American Psychiatric Association, as well as in the International Classification Diseases, published by the World Health Organization*.
Is alcoholism a disease?
Yes, alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems.
Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his or her lifestyle.
Oh yeah and you said you had a medical diagnoses, you mean you was told you drink to much, that isnt a diagnoses that was something you knew anyway. Fact, drinking too much isnt a illness its just greed, you give me medical proof that alcoholism is a illness and then we can talk seriously, for years i was told i was ill, no i wasnt i was greedy and selfish.lol
I have been alcohol free for over 4 years although a few months ago i did have a night of drinking, and when turning to the AA they turned there backs on me, when i wasn't drinking they was my best friends but when i hit the bottle they quickly become my worst enemy, LOL, bit like the bottle,,so my judgement may be offensive to others, but i only talk on personel exsperience, so my approach to dealing with beating the booze now is to avoid silly organisations that only isolate you from the real world and promise you a life of harmony with prayer and depressing meetings, and if GOD is such the saviour in our recovery then why did he get us where we was in the first place. WE CONTROL WHAT WE DO IN LIFE. But if AA keeps you sober and happy then crack on and be happy.