Today’s guest post comes to us from Anna. She’s opinionated, smart, cute, accomplished and a big old alcoholic. I thought she’d be perfect for Don’t Get Drunk Friday and when I got her post, I was not disappointed. You can check out her cool blog which is here.
“My drinking career was hard and fast, applied to the point of obsession, like everything I do. I was never a daily drinker, but I never saw the point of drinking without getting drunk, either. I would rather have stayed home than to have tried to control my drinking, and this is why my early adulthood is best described as a long period of intense boredom interrupted by periodic episodes of insane and horrifying blackouts.
There came a time where I knew that I had to quit drinking. So I did it on my own, because that is the way I’ve always done things. Several times I did this, once for two years straight, white knuckling it through social events, dates, the dreaded New Year’s Eve, rather than admitting that I needed help. Years later I would say that I managed independent “sobriety” by watching a lot of TV and not leaving the house — sobriety via Ally McBeal. But it always failed. There was always some reason why I had to drink again, or an example of how it wasn’t socially acceptable to give up drinking altogether, for the rest of my life, because society expected it of me, and what was I supposed to do?
When I finally made it to AA for good, I would learn that there is a special name for alcoholics of my type — “periodics” — which was exactly the kind of thing that I needed: a special distinction for myself. I have spent most of my life feeling that I am different, and that the rules that apply to everyone else should not apply to me. And even if I knew that the periods in between my drunken rampages were getting shorter and shorter as time passed, I still needed something separating me from everyone else. Even in recovery I needed to be different.
It was galling to me to have to go to meetings where people were proud to string a few days of sobriety together as if it was some kind of massive accomplishment, gripping onto their 30 day chips as if they were life rafts in the open sea, or crying through a speech after they received their one-year-of-sobriety birthday cake.
I hated — hated — that I had to come to these people for help. I hated the thought of having something in common with the prematurely hard-faced drunks in my women’s meetings. I was insulted when former heroin addicts would lecture me on how I should be feeling at 20 days sober. Most of all, I hated introducing myself in meetings as a newcomer, because it suggested that there was something I did not already know, that there was something that these people could teach me, and that beneath all of these superficial demarcations of age, class, experience, and gender, we all had something in common.
But I am fortunate that I am so stubborn, because even if I hated everything about AA’s brand of sobriety, I knew that my own way was not working anymore. If there was anything in the world that I hated more than the idea of needing AA it was the thought of ever again feeling like I did on the morning of June 3, 2001, when I tried to kill myself after a particularly bad bout of drinking and insane behavior the night before. After that, I knew I was fresh out of ideas and that anything I did my own way was never going to work. And that’s the only reason, eight and a half years ago, I chose AA.
I did everything they said to do: I went to 90 meetings in 90 days, took phone numbers of people I had no intention of calling, found a sponsor, worked the steps, found another sponsor, worked the steps again, took commitments, became a sponsor myself. I did it, cursing “God” under my breath and shaking my fist at the sky the whole way. I would get into debates with people at meetings, separating myself from the “big book thumpers” and arguing about whether alcoholism could rightfully be called an “allergy” or a “disease.” I was difficult, annoying and snotty, but I was consistent.
And somewhere along the way, the hatred started to fade into the background. Along with it went the need to intellectualize all of the questions about God, and finally one day I decided that maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible to have something in common with “these people.” Because here in this crazy motley crew of drunks was something more like family than I had ever known before. I could tell them anything, all of my most awful, embarrassing thoughts and feelings and exploits, and they would nod and tell me something they had done that was just as bad or embarrassing, and we would laugh about it. And through each other there was something kind of like healing.
Today my life gets so full of beautiful things that sometimes I forget that I’m not different. But I don’t ever want to go back, and my life today could never exist without sobriety. So if you’re out there reading this and thinking that maybe you’re different, don’t worry — I am too.”
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Caroline Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 1:16 pm
Thank you for sharing this, Anna! It is hard to go in the rooms and see people who are so different from where you are . . . and it is easy to get into thoughts of, “At least *I* didn’t . . . ” The day that I realized that I was JUST like that person who drank for 40 years before getting sober, I realized that I was EXACTLY where I belonged, and that I have much to learn from the oldtimers AND the newcomers. It made it MUCH easier.
Anyway, that is my experience at least. Yours was much better said, though.
Caroline´s last blog ..Dear Bitlet . . . At Your Grandmother’s
beth aka confusedhomemaker Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 3:18 pm
Thank you for sharing more about your experiences. Healing is a powerful thing.
beth aka confusedhomemaker´s last blog ..What NOT to Ask Your Professor
surcey Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 3:26 pm
Ah, the first-person experience from Anna, direct and fast, finally. Love it. Thank you for sharing. This feels real and direct.
Kir Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 3:37 pm
thanks for Sharing Anna.
I feel the way about my weight loss, I am joining WW next week..and I hate knowing that I have to, that I have something in common with “Those” people too..but I know that the accountability is what I need. And so I’ll do it.
your story really spoke to me on so many levels.
robin Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 4:36 pm
Thanks for sharing Anna, you do sound spunky! I LOVE going to my AA meetings now. They are a lot of fun and it’s a good “me” time to get out of the house. Plus, they help and get me through my moments of weakness. And I totally agree on those moments where I don’t think I have a problem anymore, I need to remind myself my brain works differently when it comes to alcohol.
Brooke Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 5:09 pm
Thank you Anna. I am ‘arms crossed feet planted, to the ground,’ not ready to go to meetings. But your words are encouraging…
Brooke´s last blog ..On Laughter
Brooke Reply:
January 15th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
that comma is so very misplaced…
Brooke´s last blog ..On Laughter
Ellie Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 5:51 pm
Thank you for your honesty, Anna! Although my drinking career (I was a daily drinker at the end – around the clock) is different than yours, I had the obsession, blackouts and shame, too. Your post shows that there are all kinds of ways to drink, but that alcoholics all have the common thread of the obsession about alcohol, the life chaos and disruption, and the feeling of being sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I was also resentful – VERY resentful – of meetings when I first started going. It wasn’t until I opened up to the phenomenal people (mostly women) around me that my life really started getting better. Today I can’t imagine my life without them. Great post!
-Ellie
Ellie´s last blog ..Twice Monthly Giveaway – New Item!
Diana Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 6:27 pm
Nicely done Anna. I still have some resistance to AA, though I have long since accepted that my similarities far outweigh my differences to the guests of those meetings. I may not attend often (or often enough), but I am always glad AA is there for me and for anyone else who needs it. The good news is that the same stubborness that keeps me from fulling embracing the program prevents me from taking a drink as well.
Amy is A.D.D. Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
Thanks for sharing! Wonderful story and really makes me go hmmmmm. I’m not an every day drinker either but when I do drink, I go out drinking everything in sight (including the mouthwash) until I’m blacked out and have pissed all over myself. I have fought the thought of AA for a while and this just reinforces that fact that I need to get my ass to a meeting, STAT.
rebecca Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 8:09 pm
Happy Friday!!
rebecca´s last blog ..Me…..Little Me
anna Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 8:29 pm
Thanks for all the nice things you guys have said. I don’t go to enough meetings these days, these replies are kind of reminding me of this. I think this post series is a great idea, Stefanie!
anna´s last blog ..The First Other Anna
Jack Said,
January 15, 2010 @ 10:59 pm
Stories like these are important. I know more than a few friends of Bill and they all talk about how much it helped to hear others speak about their experience.
Jack´s last blog ..If I Was a Professional Blogger
Lisa Rae @ smacksy Said,
January 16, 2010 @ 1:39 am
Stefanie – You know lots of cool drunks.
Anna – Thanks for sharing your story.
For me, the key to long term sobriety is to just keep doing the same things I learned how to do in early sobriety – the meetings, the calls, the sponsor, the steps. That stuff doesn’t change. My experience with working the steps is that, in the same way I’ve heard yoga described, it doesn’t get easier it just gets deeper.
Lisa Rae @ smacksy´s last blog ..Seriously?
jenni Said,
January 16, 2010 @ 1:47 am
Well, done, Anna. Great post.
Mommy on the Spot Said,
January 18, 2010 @ 8:01 pm
Thanks so much for sharing! Addiction is such a tricky thing, and it can be so different for each person. Thaks again!
Mommy on the Spot´s last blog ..I *heart* Aunt Becky!
maggie, dammit Said,
January 18, 2010 @ 8:47 pm
Anna, this is awesome. It’s so important to see all the different ways this disease manifests–the danger comes when you can tell yourself that being a drunk looks a certain way, and that it’s completely opposite of the way you look. Thank you for illustrating that so beautifully here today. xo
Bridget Said,
January 19, 2010 @ 7:16 pm
Great post. Thanks Anna.
In a tribute to ‘not drinking’ my husband and I are “faking” a shot while watching the new “The Bachelor”. It’s actually just as fun. You know, whenever someone says “awesome” and “journey”?
However we are considering adding “I’m here to find love” since all the drama is getting on our nerves.
Adrianne Reply:
January 20th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
don’t forget “amazing.”
small house plans Said,
January 20, 2010 @ 9:07 am
Thanks for sharing a wonderful experience to us. Healing is a nice thing to do. It makes you free from the hassles and stresses.