Well, that's an excellent place to be, especially if it's a "do over."oldr_n_wsr wrote:... I have 16 months.
For me, I knew I was horribly screwed up since childhood so it was imperative that I find out what made me tick. Once sober, I enrolled back in college and loaded up on as many psychology and sociology courses as I could -- core and elective. Once I understood who, what, and why I was, the entire universe opened up and I no longer found myself struggling and hiding. Nothing since has ever beaten that moment of clarity. (Maybe my daughter's birth, but that's another wonderful story for some other time.)
One of my professors, he, too, an alcoholic, wanted me to get involved with counseling at AA. As rewarding as that sounded we could never agree on how I was to present that "higher power" concept to those struggling to regain their lives through the program. I later found out that there are, in fact, chapters of AA geared for atheists but by then I had pretty much disavowed AA and many of the twelve tenets. Bill Wilson would have liked my ways but not my means.
o_n_w, if you need the group therapy that AA offers then stay with it. Remember, sobriety is not only a great idea, but it must become your lifestyle -- you life. That's why so many falter and fumble with their sobriety. It impinges upon every aspect of living and, in the end, is deemed not to be worth the effort. Sobriety ain't for sissies. Simply put, you're either in or out, forever, NO EXCEPTIONS. You're in my thoughts. Peace.
