af Wed 5 Feb

[kuya]

af Wed 5 Feb

When I was renovating a house a few years back I developped a repetitive strain injury in my elbow from sanding and stripping and painting ( commonly called tennis elbow) it was very painful and required rest and support.

Thankfully this was not my career so I have made a full recovery and could now resume that activity without a problem, but now mindful that in excess the 'disease' will return. If I had not rested I would be in permanent pain and have done irreversible damage.

Surely this is how we should view our drinking. At the beginning we were doing it to excess, ignored the warnings, the hangovers, the DUIs, the damaged relationships. If we had reduced our drinking and never returned to those levels we would have been able to be 'normal' drinkers again. But we did not, we continued drinking too much, too often and became chemically dependant.

Why I chose to drink to excess in the first place is the part I can now address. This is the work to prevent relapse. The 'disease' of alcoholism is now part of my makeup. I can no more reverse it than I can reverse my grey hairs.

We are not alcoholics because we HAD a disease, we are NOW alcoholically diseased because we did not reduce our consumption in time.

[TheSunFlower]

af Wed 5 Feb

Det...I can understand where you are coming from. That is why I feel so strongly about it being a personal choice on how anyone handles sobriety. Clearly what works for one doesn't work for another. The important thing is that everyone gets support regardless of the path they choose. I don't find that with many people I run into to. That includes people who no longer attend AA.

TT-it certainly may be an American thing. It does seem to be a prominent thought that there is just no way you can maintain sobriety without AA, steps or a sponsor. When someone stands out of that circle it can feel like they are waiting for you to fall....as if to prove their sobriety was stronger all along. It's odd. Instead of supporting one another, listening to new ideas it's as if the recovery circle bans you....of course praying for you to come to your senses.

For me it's a waste of time to try to determine the cause. Important to remember the past, but not live on it. I too don't find much use wallowing in the past....moving forward and creating the life I want.

Kuya...we cross posted. I once likened it to breaking a leg, needing it to heal....but clearly that leg would be more likely to break again if it wasn't taken care of.

PP....maybe us Americans and Canadians like to have something to blame....or a good excuse for poor behavior that no one can actually blame us personally for. Consequences yes. But actually blaming us for clearly what our disease made us do....we'll have none of that.

[porqoui]

af Wed 5 Feb

kuya;1623410 wrote: We are not alcoholics because we HAD a disease, we are NOW alcoholically diseased because we did not reduce our consumption in time.

Have to think about that one KY.

[kuya]

af Wed 5 Feb

TheSunFlower;1623411 wrote:

PP....maybe us Americans and Canadians like to have something to blame....or a good excuse for poor behavior that no one can actually blame us personally for. Consequences yes. But actually blaming us for clearly what our disease made us do....we'll have none of that.

I think this attitude is prevalent the world over. The individual gets treated for what is, IMHO, a social disorder.

Our societies are awash with drug abuse, those of us who are ' bad' enough to get treatment are the fortunate few, and the tip of an ever growing iceberg.

We needed drugs to numb our feelings, often rooted in childhoods featuring neglect, abandonment, abuse ( emotional, physical and sexual). It results from a society that prizes wealth over parenting, the material over the social.

We are the products, were we to remain drinking we would be the victims.

[kuya]

af Wed 5 Feb

I must share this with you all.

Have been applying these techniques for a few days and WOW!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JBA5HJqcTa0