I am so grateful that I thought to write down "Sobriety is my New Addiction" when I'd heard it on the "Intervention" TV Show on A&E many years ago. That little lamppost lights my way to this very day.
50,000+ drinks and countless other upside-down, inside-out, come-to and/or pass-out doses of other drugs over my 30-year Drinking Career preceded my very first day of Sobriety. On-again/Off-again Use, Abuse and Abstinence over the next eight (8) years served to conclude my Addiction Resume.
Coasting into my Eighteenth Year of Continuous Sobriety, still today, "Sobriety is my New Addiction" rings true to me because in Recovery, every day IS NEW! Addiction was so Freaking Tired!
Recovery is my Magnificent Obsession (Yes, there was a 1954 Movie titled "Magnificent Obsession." but that's a moot point). I try to see, do, act, and feel everything through the lens of Recovery. My Eight (8) Hours a Day (or more) plopped on a barstool in any of a dozen or more regular hangouts (not counting 2 to 4-day binges) pale by comparison to a single one-hour Recovery Meeting. Recovery has become more than a commitment to an occasional Meeting. Recovery is my Magnificent Obsession (a little repetition in Recovery beats one endless drink or drug after another, for sure).
My life had become my Addictions, eventually replacing all other connections to living. Today, I breathe Recovery. It is my All, my Everything. I "wear it like a loose-fitting garment." Damn! I didn't come up with that one either, but it remains a favorite Recovery expression.
In the final analysis, who said what becomes unimportant. I embrace those thoughts and actions, mine and others, and try incorporating them into this new way of living I finally found. "Yard by Yard, it's hard. Inch by Inch, it's a cinch." I heard that in a Recovery Meeting, too!
Learning to accept responsibility and live with the consequences of my actions are sweet victories to me. Addiction is a Malignant Obsession.
Recovery will always be fresh, new and exciting. Addiction will always be haggard.
Dr. Jim (that's me) offers you this Prescription: "Take 2 Meetings & Call me in the Morning!"
"Stick that in your pipe and smoke it," lol.
[Drops microphone]: "Stick a fork in it. I'm done."
#Enjoy ALL DRINKING ASIDE: The Destruction, Deconstruction & Reconstruction of an Alcoholic Animal. Find it on Amazon. Book it here: http://amzn.to/1bX6JyO &
My NEW, Non-Fiction, BECOMING UNBROKEN: Reflections on Addiction and Recovery. It is also on Amazon and may be found here: https://lnkd.in/dkF767RT
Both books are available in Print and Kindle editions.
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