Gardener, you kicked alcohol too!... What's your story, only if you want to share it, don't feel you have to!
from '04 to '06 I began self-medicating a steady buzz every single night with wine. Why I did is a long story and irrelevant now. I looked into many options when I realized this had gotten out of hand. While I had a few friends who had been turned around by AA, It didn't resonate with me at all. If it works for others, God bless. But I felt, despite being a deeply religious person, that AA was too religious for me. Also, I felt: I was not diseased. Not insane. Not powerless. My life had not become unmanageable. Did not accept that relapse was an inevitable occurrence. Did not believe that I could quit only one day at a time (if there was an addictive side to me, I imagine it would love to hear, "I'm just not going to drink today." Its imagined response? "Fine. I'll be back tomorrow."
Through much research, I found Rational Recovery (both the book and the program) and it resonated with me. I quit and never looked back. No discomfort. No white knuckle, lip-biting experiences. Just stopped. February 6, 2006. Walked away. No problem. This told me I was abusing it but not addicted to it. Sometimes - sometimes - as Rational Recovery puts it, it's simply "Stupid behavior in a non-stupid person."
My story. My solution. I'm not recovering. I recovered. Others must take the path that resonates and works for them.
Gardener
"My soul, be satisfied with flowers, With fruit, with weeds even; but gather them In the one garden you may call your own." Cyrano deBergerac
