A DRUNK-A-LOG? OF SORTS! (SORRY)

ON GETTIN' AND STAYIN' SOBER

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run."
--The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

These lyrics can apply to getting sober--it's sometimes a real tough job. I remember the shakes, the sweats, the expelling of certain body fluids by mouth, and that real sunken feeling of queasiness. It was as if nothing would ever matter, ever again in my earthly existence. Life was now over. The die was cast.

Well, the die WAS cast. God sent me my first sponsor before I ever heard of AA, a catholic non-alcoholic priest, who augmented his income by counseling at the Mental Health Clinic in Naples. So, several weeks BEFORE I even admitted I might have a serious problem here, he counseled me (rather, he 'ordered' me) to drink one pint of vodka per day, about a third of my usual maintenance diet. Fortunately for me, he didn't specify what proof the label might read! I agreed to do as he said, like as if I knew "when to hold 'em". Finally one day he told me it was time to "fold 'em". Monday March 18, 1974, at 11:55 PM I had my last drink. The next evening I attended my first ever meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. And "never again has liquor touched these lips"...I like it when people say that--did they then drink it through a STRAW?

Jump ahead with me 34+ years:

It's not the drinking which is my problem any more--it's the THINKING! Wonder if anyone else has ever came to that discovery? -GRIN-

This morning I'll rise at 4:30 AM, hit my regular 6 AM meeting (why do I abuse myself like that?) and then travel, well "bike it", to Ft. Myers Beach for a 9 AM men's meeting. Then breakfast with the bikers (I'm one now also!), some "riding", and activities like these help to keep me sober--and SANE (sometimes!). Should explain, we're NOT Triathlon folks, our bikes have engines! MAY GOD BE WITH THE TRIATHLON PEOPLE TOMORROW! (You know who you are!)

So these days, drinking--or not--is not problem. Cunning, baffling, and POWERFUL! is my problem(s).
Alcohol can slip back into my life through my choices of "people, places, and things", and people...and people. Well, with God's help, and the support of "y'all" I'll go to bed tonight sober. And if I act today, living and loving with great joy, all will be well with me--and I hope with you!