[roads]

I'm so proud of notz and her accomplishment, which she repeats every day as she chooses to continue living a sober life. She's much younger than me IRL, and a little younger in AA years. I'm reprinting an article a friend sent belatedly for my 20th, one published last April. Im not sure it reflects any of her thinking, but I thought it might help folks struggling with addiction now. Unlike this writer, I never forget that I'm an alcoholic.

Celebrating My 20 Years of Sobriety on Alcohol Awareness Month

by Laura Carbonell | 04/1/2013

I often forget I once had a drinking problem. As I near my twentieth year of sobriety, I am caught off-guard when someone asks me whether I miss drinking. Suddenly, the memories of what seems like a bad nightmare flood my mind. I self-medicated to ease my fears, drown my sorrows and feel less alone. I suppose the honest answer to that question would be that yes, I sometimes still wish I could drink to forget my problems. And yet, as I go about my days, alcohol no longer strikes me as the answer to life’s challenges. I no longer associate alcohol with escape. I associate it with loss, self-inflicted injury and pain. Not only my own, but that of those who love me and care for me.

At 16, I was already an alcoholic in full swing. It took me a while to realize that I had a drinking problem. I come from a country that made it easy and acceptable to drink at almost any age. Until blackouts became a constant in my life and I could not remember what had happened the night before. When I was 22, after what seemed like a seizure, a doctor told me my liver was severely damaged and that it may be irreversible.

It could be hard to understand for someone who’s never experienced it, that alcoholism is a full-time job, with no pay. And it’s not a job you can easily quit. It grips you, it takes hold of your thoughts, your emotions and your body. And quitting has nothing to do with willpower. It is much more complex than that.*
Through the years, I tried to stop drinking over and over to no avail. At 28 I hit rock bottom—my boyfriend left me after a trip to London during which I binge drank for the duration; by then I was also a suicide survivor—and I quit cold turkey. I took myself to a 12-step support group and attended 90 meetings in 90 days. To a non-drinker, this may sound like a good thing. But to me back then, recovery was fraught with pain and discomfort. The minute I quit drinking alcohol, I was plagued by migraines, tension headaches and nightmares. I found I had to face life without the crutch I was so used to, but with the help of a recovery support group, family and friends and my own will to survive, 20 years later, I’m still sober.

So for Alcohol Awareness Month, in celebration of my own 20 years of sobriety, I want to share with you a tip to help the alcoholic in your life.
If you really want to save an alcoholic you need to confront them, embarrass them, kick them out of the house if you must. While it may sound cruel, know that by doing that, you may actually be saving their life. And yours. Because active alcoholics not only ruin our own existence, we affect everyone around us. In the throes of alcoholism, we are like bulldozers, unstoppable unless we hit rock bottom, and we often need some help from you—an outsider—in order to do that. We will lie, cheat, steal, whatever is necessary, to keep our addiction going. So, you need to practice tough love on us and intervene, no matter how much it hurts.

Thankfully nowadays it’s far easier to get help than 20 years ago and the stigma is not as bad as it used to be. I don’t feel any less worthy than someone who is not an alcoholic. In fact, recovering from an addiction often makes me feel on looking back that if *I could overcome that, I can achieve anything.

Alcoholics Anonymous remains to this day, the cheapest and most readily available source of support. If you’ve never been to a meeting and you need it for yourself or a loved one, just go. AA meetings are no pity party. These meetings can help alcoholics regain trust in people, themselves and their new life experience as a whole. They help you feel part of a group of people you can relate to. We all share the common goal of wanting sobriety and we are in it together. It stands to reason that only someone who has been through a similar hell can really understand you. And it is empowering to see others succeed at quitting. If they could do it, I felt back then, so could I. And so can you or your loved one.

Alcoholics need to realize, as I did, that it is possible to live without the crutch of a few shots or even bottles of booze on a daily basis. Twenty years later, I can attest to the sweetness of life without addiction and, for Alcohol Awareness Month, I welcome others to share it with me.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES*
Alcoholics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous

Celebrating My 20 Years of Sobriety on Alcohol Awareness Month

[CloudyDay99]

Congratulations notz!

[Travelinglady]

Way to go, notz!

[LadyShadow]

Congratulations notz!

[spondiferous]

Congrats notz! Amazing!

[notz]

Roadie, ain't you something!

I'm just now discovering this, silly me! I should have known my heart and soul friend would do something special...love you.

I have to go to work now but I promise to think of all of us alcoholics today in particular. to all!

Congratulations, Notz!!

Congratulations notz

[Arethusa]

Congrats

[emgreen]

You're an inspiration, notz. 20 years of 24 hours at a time. Thanks & congratulations coming at you.