your story support group

[doubter]

your story support group

touched by it all

I have just walked into my Office, checked for messages from my guardian Angel, and by habit, just was having a quick browse through the posts of the past two days at mwo and then chanced upon this thread.

Been engrossed in it for the past half-hour and am having a lump in my throat right now. Very few times have I been moved to this extent when reading.

Thanks to each one you - UKSean, one2many, aidenspappa , prest4time- who have so courageously posted your past travails.

For me, these stories have given new food for thought. Till this moment, I have been looking at my past actions in life through the conscious choices that I had made since my teenage years. I have never dared to examine my childhood years with as much searching clarity as you all have done here. Maybe a lot of triggers for my current behaviour are anchored in unconscious /subconscious childhood happenings.

I have always made myself believe that I had a reasonably happy and carefree childhood. Loving parents and sibling. Huge extended family. Typical Indian(East) middleclass living. Good schooling. No major emotional traumas. Even with such a background, I never could fully understand why I did have an addictive streak in me. And a Mr.Hyde who keeps rearing his ugly head about one percent of the time. Are there some dark forgotten recesses of my memory which are unexplored (consciously?/as a defence mechanism?) and may provide pointers to my current behaviour?

Just thinking aloud. First time that I am posting on the fly, so to speak. That's how hard these experiences have hit me.

Wish you all the very best. Let's as usual, use this forum as a spring board for improving our inner lives.

[UKSean]

your story support group

Life story..

As part of my 6 month Alcohol rehab we where required to attend therapy 3 times a week for 3 hours at a time plus a one on one for an hour with our councillor.
Part of our therapy and indeed a condition of graduating and moving forward to aftercare was to tell our "Life story".
We also had to put it on a 3x6 foot piece of construction paper in photographs (mostly clippings from magazines) then we had to present it in front of the group (in my case about 11 or 12 other people.)
As you can well imagine it was a very emotional and scary thing to do.
I attended therapy for almost a year and saw many people present there stories to the group. I included.
Without exception every person who, when finished said the same exact words "Wow I feel a great weight lifted off my shoulders".
It is no surprise that it was/is a very important part of recovery.
I wholeheartedly encourage anyone who suffers from alcohol addiction like myself to enquire into alcohol/drug addiction support counselling groups in there your area, for me it is what saved my life.
I have been invited back by my old councillor who heard of the troubling times that I am having right now, I will be starting again for 3 hours on Wednesday nights.
I am sure it will be very beneficial for me.
Love and best wishes to all of you, my dear MWO friends.
Sean


TYFE:l

[Prest4time]

your story support group

Sean, I absolutely agree about sharing our life stories. I went for pretty intense counseling two years ago and went faithfully once a week. It was painful, but so helpful. I still go occasionally.

Kate, your words are so true. We do not have to let the past govern our present. We do not have to let it become our identity. I found myself watching Les Miserable last night (again) and what a beautiful reminder of breaking free from the chains of our past.

All of your stories have helped me greatly as well as sharing my own.