Making another try at sobriety

sylverpiano said:

My first AA meeting for this round started well. I actually got a round of applause when I stood up and said "Hi. I am Sylvia and I haven't had a drink since I woke up this morning."

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Gotta love AA meetings...

Not sure whether you've ever tried Celebrate Recovery. It's a twelve-step program based on the steps and the Beatitudes. It was started by Rick Warren's Saddleback Church. It has helped many people with numerous addictions, but also with "hurts, habits, hangups."

What is best about it, I think, is that it's "multi-dependency" because I think often we replace one addiction with another, or have numerous bad coping mechanisms that are too diverse to classify as an addiction. There are small groups specializing in substance abuse, co-dependency, etc. It's really focused on the process. The only time I ever went through the twelve steps was at CR, and my step study group was one of the most supportive, awesome group of ladies I've ever worked with.

What turns me off about CR a little is its fundamentalism. Most people seem to think that that's the core of the program, but I think it would be better if it lost a little of its Bible belt flavor.

I know that you have had several very traumatic experiences in your life. Have you ever thought you might be suffering from PTSD, and that these anniversaries serve as triggers just as Fourth of July fireworks do for afflicted veterans of war? I know that there are layers to recovering from trauma, and that you might need to go through the steps several times to really "recover" so that you won't need to escape into alcohol. I wish you success on your journey, and hope that you focus on your strengths and abilities, which are significant, and the good you do for your employees and customers.

God bless and watch over you Sylvia. Put your trust in God, He will help you with this.