Good Examples and Horrible Warnings
This being my last entry for awhile, I thought I would spend some time discussing personal issues. I am coming up on my 14th anniversary of the day I quit drinking. I would be lying if I told you that every day was full of sunshine. It wasn’t and I can’t imagine that it will ever be.
Every once in awhile (and those “once in a while’s” are getting further and further apart), I could still knock back a cold six-pack. I see people drink socially and wish I could be like them, but I am smart enough to know that I am not like them. Whether I admit that I am an alcoholic or not is inconsequential. The fact that I KNOW that one drink will lead to the ten is enough for me. I know my limit is zero.
I am lucky. I quit on the first try. Not to say that I won’t go back. I have often told people that on my 80th birthday I’m letting it all hang out. I’ll be smoking Marlboro’s and drinking Budweiser’s like there’s no tomorrow. And at the age of 80, maybe there won’t be that many tomorrow’s.
But for now, I’m cool. I can get along without it just fine. Again, I am lucky. Not everyone can do it like I did. I’m not better, just different. I didn’t need AA. Some people do, and that’s fine with me. God bless them. Some people can’t do it at all, and God bless them, too. We’re all put here for a reason, and maybe some people are put here to warn of us dangers. As the author Catherine Aird once said, “If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll just have to be a horrible warning.”
Let us all try to be the good examples.
Thanks for the website and this post. It reminded me of my brother, who died from one of those diseases (throat cancer) that are statistically more common among alcoholics. He battled alcoholism for many years. He sobered up only after his fourth try in a residential program that lasted six months. Like you he finally decided he wasn’t like other people, when it came to alcohol. That’s when he began living again and repairing his relationships with his family. He lived sober for about 10 years. I think it was a good 10 years.