Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, who is credited as the Inventor of the Radio, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1909. Radio Shack opened their doors in 1921 and closed them in 2015. Jim Anders received a DIY Radio Kit circa 1960. Something like a Mr. Potato Head, it was a box that contained all the parts necessary to build your own radio from scratch: Spools, Wires, Screw, Control Knobs, Gizmos, a Ceramic Filter, Nuts and on and on.
I should have been given a Mr. Potato Head instead. It would have been more my speed. I knew nothing about electronics then, and not a whole hell of a lot more about electronics now.
"You alone can do it, but you can't do it alone" - Dr. Ron B
This Quote by Dr. Ron became something like "When I tried to stay sober alone, I wound up drinking alone" for me. I knew how to drink. My Resume included a 50,000-drink history. I drank every day for 30 years. If I was sick, I drank a pint or more of Blackberry Brandy, my self-prescribed cure-all. My only respites from drinking during all those years were during my increasingly more frequent and progressive hospital visits for alcohol poisoning.
"You alone can do it, but you can't do it alone" - Dr. Ron B
I could and did get drunk alone, but clean and sober? No way, Jose. No way, Dr. Ron.
My experience has shown me that my addicted brain will continue to lie to me long after all alcohol and other substances have left my body. Effects upon behavior, thoughts, memories, dreams, actions, wishes and emotions (however you may wish to experience and describe it) will linger long, long after you taper off or go cold turkey. It seems Addiction stands waiting for you to let down your guard so that you may once again become entrapped by it.
A brain changed by years of drug and alcohol use needs to stay connected to the human race or the hamster wheel of addiction may hypnotize you back into its futile spin.
If you wish to think that you are somehow different than the multitudes who have preceded you, proceed with caution. When I thought that way, multiple relapses followed.
I am reminded here of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon. To refresh your memory, one Stanza goes like this:
"Slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free."
Recovery is just like that, but instead of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," it's "50 Ways to Live Life Sober" and all 50 Ways are with the help of others.
For my third and final time (today): "You alone can do it, but you can't do it alone" - Dr. Ron B
With your little old self, you might start with Mr. Potato Head and work your way up to a DIY Radio Kit. But if you're anything like me, when it comes to Recovery from Drugs and Alcohol, my simple recommendation is NEVER DO IT ALONE.
*****
Check out my NEW Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery (Find it on Amazon, Book it here): https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
Or immerse yourself in my Descent into Addiction and eventual Recovery in my Autobiographical Fiction, ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal (Find it on Amazon. Book it here): https://lnkd.in/esP83n-c
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I hope you enjoy BOTH of my BOOKS on ADDICTION & RECOVERY! (Print & Kindle Versions of Both are Available!) Enjoy!
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