Topic: Can’t Stop Drinking? – How I Overcame Alcoholism!
Notes:
- Unfortunately, in our society, there is not a lot of conversation or information about alcoholism
- The thought of living without the crutch of alcohol can be terrifying…
- Sometimes you have or do hit rock bottom before you quit, but not always – For Terry hitting bottom was almost losing his life over alcohol which started his journey into sobriety
- Terry – mirrored what others with sobriety did in order to stay sober
- What are the steps if you are at the point where you have no idea what to do?:
- Look at it for what it is medically – society doesn’t take this seriously
- Withdrawal from alcohol could be DEADLY
- Alcohol is what mostly causes all your problems when you are in active addiction (Alcoholic Spiral)
- GO TO YOUR DOCTOR and you must be honest in order to get through detox safely
- Learn to accept help
- Do everything you possibly can to stay sober
- Alcoholism is physical and mental
- Your mind plays tricks on you to think that you can just have one… or that you can go back… but, the problem is you are powerless after you have that first drink
- Your mind will try to justify reasons to drink
- Rock bottom for some is that you just can’t quit, but how much are you willing to take?
- What is going to help you is understanding alcoholism and how it works
- With alcohol, companies don’t give you the appropriate side effects – depression, mental confusion, dizziness, anger, irritability…
- This is NOT you – you are under the influence and it’s reeking havoc on your body and mind
- Everyone that struggles with alcoholism everyone is on the verge of getting everything they need once they push through – Marcus
- You will learn things from anyone whether they have one day or 30 years… keep an open mind to what others in sobriety tell you
- You have to create limitations for yourself, especially in early sobriety
- Alcoholism can creep in easily and you have to be prepared for it
- You do start feeling better quickly
- Most alcoholics can relate to each other in some way
- Emotions are not something we need to push out of our minds – society puts that in your head and it’s totally normal
- Alcohol wants to teach us to isolate and force us to think there is no one out there that cares – you have to say no to this, you have to push it out
- Caution against sadness in regard to feeling sorry for yourself (Self-absorbed) – if you are wallowing in self-pity, do something different and get focus off of yourself
- Gratitude is KEY
- 15-minute rule – Not just for drinking, but for life – pause, stop, relax reflect
- Last thing to think about… is some peoples bottoms are 6 feet under…