by Paul Churchill | Dec 12, 2016 | Podcast
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Melissa has been sober for 1 month… This is her story…
SHOW NOTES
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….
Many of us believe that we cannot quit drinking. “I am the life of the party, that’s just who I am!” (I bet the crowd around us would beg to differ but that’s besides’ the point.) Life will not be fun if I do not drink. Yeah right- blackouts, hangovers, depression, and anxiety; now that is fun. Paul reviews the time in his life when he owned a bar in Spain. You heard correctly. Paul C = Bar Owner. Seems like an entire lifetime ago. Listed below are the pros and cons of that time period in Spain:
Pro’s – I didn’t die, it accelerated me towards my bottom, I learned to play some fancy Flamenco guitar chords
Con’s – Ambien and booze are not a good combo, missed out on many opportunities/road trips with the senoritas, playing football after being awake for 30 hours straight (the next Peyton Manning? I think not), blackouts, blackouts, and more blackouts, DUI, re-introducing myself to a previous hookup (ouch!), contemplating a 5th floor sky dive
[ 8:38 ] Paul Introduces Melissa. How long have you been sober?
Melissa – 30 days. Melissa explains her background. She is a bartender, married, with 4 children. During her free time, she likes to go to the gym.
Paul asks Melissa what it is like being a bartender. Melissa has been in “The Industry” all of her life (Industry = restaurant, club or bar scene). She felt that bartending would be the way to go early on because of her love of drinking and it seemed fun. Melissa’s family are serious drinkers so she grew up in that environment. She thought normal drinking was boring. Melissa states that when you are in “The Industry” you tend to share similar stories of drinking and it justifies your own behavior.
[ 13:54 ] What is it like bartending with 30 days of sobriety?
Melissa – It’s been easier since I left Las Vegas and now live in Pennsylvania. The environment is also easier. I work in a fine dining establishment instead of a Las Vegas casino. I am used to going through shifts without drinking but would always drink after my shift ended. One of my go to drinks was a kids’ cup filled with ice and straight vodka. Five minutes from home, I would down it.
[ 17:54 ] Staying sober is easy when drunk people are idiots
Paul and Melissa swap stories about working in the industry surrounded by drunk people. Do your local DJ a favor and do not request any more Michael Jackson songs!
[ 18:47 ] What was your bottom?
Melissa – I was attending a birthday party and had brought my 14 year old daughter and her friend. We were staying at a hotel so there were no limits. My daughter and her friend had to come get me from the bar downstairs. She video-taped me while feeding me chicken nuggets. I was a mess and my daughter thought it was hysterical. I didn’t want her thinking that that situation was OK. Our family culture was turning into a dangerous life.
[ 23:55 ] Paul and Melissa discuss the tragic death of her sister
Melissa – she was drinking and driving and attempted to go around the car in front of her. Her car was hit. The accident caused her to break her neck. She was only 21 years old when she was killed. My sister’s story, however, did not stop me from continuing to drink.
Paul – we have all had plenty of “You would have thought (…insert tragic event here…) moments that should have stopped us from drinking. Fear can get you sober but it cannot keep you sober.
Melissa reviews her history of trying AA and remaining alcohol free for 2 years. During that time she picked up a pill addiction. After 2 years she was drinking and taking pills. She weaned herself off of the pills and suffered heavy withdrawal systems. She did not think she was an alcoholic because she was able to stop while pregnant with all of her children. Once the children were born, however, the pressure of motherhood soon had her reaching for the wine bottle.
[ 32:48 ] How have you made it to 30 days?
Melissa – RE podcast, constantly reminding myself of my worst drunk moments and comradery with other recovering alcoholics.
[ 42:35 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? Celebrating my 36th birthday and waking up in the hospital not remembering a thing
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? Too many CRS (can’t remember shit) moments.
- What’s your plan moving forward? To find a local AA meeting and do the 12 steps. Time to locate those weeds and pull them out!
- What’s your favorite resource in recovery? Listening to the Big Book will driving and listening to various recovery podcasts
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? Inside of every alcoholic’s home are 2 doors with different paths. Behind door #1, there is a monkey who is going to kick your ass down a shorter path. Behind door #2, there is simply a longer path. It’s time to choose door #2!
- You might be an alcoholic if? You have company over and you are sneaking gulps of vodka in between your glasses of wine.
[ 41:00 ] Paul ends the show discussing 3 main themes
Man in the Mirror – drinking causes us to not want to see ourselves in the mirror. What often reflects back is shame and disgust
False Dreams – drinking brings about the notion of false dreams. The actions needed to make these dreams come true are taken away by booze
Geographical Changes – Paul sells his bar in Spain and moves back to the states, eventually ending up in beautiful Bozeman MT. Recovery is an opportunity to change the course of our lives. It’s time to change everything in order to get there.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meetups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code Elevator.
Promo Code: Elevator
recoveryelevator.com/survey
Sober Selfies! – Send your Sober Selfie and your Success Story to info@recoveryelevator.com
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up, we can do this!”
by Paul Churchill | Nov 28, 2016 | Podcast
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Stephanie has been sober for 5 years… This is her story…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE!
SHOW NOTES
Why do some go down the path of alcoholism faster than others? Why do the wheels come off at different times for all of us? Is it an ‘addictive personality’ disorder? Well, truth is, we can’t find real scientific evidence to prove that an ‘addictive personality’ is a real thing. What we do know is that genetic makeup combined with environmental factors that someone is living with have huge factors in whether or not someone will become addicted to alcohol. For Paul, the wheels came off right around age 21, but there is no way to determine if and when someone will become addicted to alcohol. There are many environmental factors that can slow down or speed up this factor…
[ 7:25 ] Paul introduces Stephanie.
Stephanie has been sober for almost 5 years. She got sober December 31st, 2011. She is 33 and from Alabama. Stephanie works in a Bradford treatment center. She loves to run, kayak and hangout with her family.
[ 8:12 ] Do you have a pink cloud?
Stephanie tries to make her own ‘pink cloud’ every day in that she looks for the positive in everything. She is aware of the things she is grateful for and recognizes where she could be if she didn’t have her sobriety.
[ 14:09 ] Stephanie talks about her drinking experience and the associated health problems that she dealt with.
[ 23:04 ] Stephanie’s Mom and Dad took her to a treatment center on December 30th, 2011.
[ 24:39 ] Do you think you could’ve gotten sober without rehab?
“For me, I don’t think I could. I had to be removed from my situation, completely removed. I had tried little things here and there, but I didn’t know coping mechanisms. I know people can do it, but I just know that I couldn’t have done it.”
[ 25:35 ] Stephanie talk about her program.
Stephanie was able to relate to the AA program. She has had the same sponsor for almost 4 1/2 years. “It was necessary for me.”
[ 26:41 ] Can you pinpoint one rock bottom moment?
“After totalling my car and trying to hide it…” Stephanie was making frequent trips to the liquor store to buys half pints of vodka. When she started drinking in the morning, she realized something had the change.
[ 33:04 ] Walk us through a day in the life of Stephanie.
“Usually I wake up and do a reading from the Hazeldon Foundation and I use an app called ‘My Spiritual Toolkit. I also have a page saved on my phone which has a prayer for each step. Then I’ll take some quiet time. I’m not very good at meditation.” Stephanie takes time to herself in the mornings. She gets up early and tries to go for a run before heading into work. At work, she tries to take 3-4 minutes just to breath and calm down. At the end of the day, Stephanie takes time to reflect on her day, looking for the positive and places where she can do better tomorrow. “I try to get a lot of sleep. I need my 8 hours of sleep and my prayer and meditation time.”
[ 36:09 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “Pancreatitis… That was pretty horrible.”
- What’s your plan in sobriety moving forward? “To not stay stagnant. To change and grow and try to help others as much as possible.”
- What’s your favorite resource in recovery? “The Big Book, My Spiritual Toolkit and that prayer page.”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “Continue. Make a continuous effort to put one foot in front of the other.”
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “Do it. Seek treatment if you can. Ask for help and know that you don’t have to be alone.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“…You are waking up drinking vodka a 6am and hiding bottles all throughout your room!”
Resources mentioned in RE 93:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
Hazeldon Foundation Digital Resources
My Spiritual Toolkit
Podcast Resource Info – ‘Addiction now defined as brain disorder, not behavior issue’
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!
by Paul Churchill | Nov 21, 2016 | Podcast
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The article from Cracked.com called How Half Of American Lost Its F^*%cking Mind.
The article from the Atlantic Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying of Despair
[9:21] Paul introduces Sara
Sara has been sober for 5 months and 10 days, or a total of 163 days. Sara is feeling better than she has ever felt, which is a common response in early recovery. Sobriety has not been all wonderful colors, tastes, and smells. Sara’s experience so far has been overall great, but not without challenges; she has had to overcome some adversity. Which is a very big foundational pillar of life, as nothing comes easy in sobriety, and getting sober is a blind leap of faith. Sara is originally from Louisiana, currently living in New Jersey, she is a psychiatrist who is married with no children. For fun, she does everything she used to do but is learning to do it sober. One of her best sober activities she has enjoyed was attending a Coldplay concert, in which she remembered every single minute. The concert was amazing, as was Sara’s first sober football game, feeling every emotion so much more. One not so cool activity in sobriety was joining friends bar hopping after a football game. Sara struggled, but realized she is no longer “that guy” and could drive home sober.
[13:21 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. When did you hit bottom?
Sara made small attempts to stop two years prior to her sobriety date. During that time, she read a book titled “Freedom from Addiction,” which inspired her; only until an invite to socialize and drink. She would start again and not be able to stop. Eventually, Sara was at a happy hour followed by dinner with lots of drinking. She thought she was good to drive home. She ended up in an accident after which the entire night was a blur. Realizing that she could lose her life and career, even though there were no legal ramifications involved. Sara realized how lucky she was to come out of that situation safe and not in a legal battle. Paul shares his driving while intoxicated experiences. Sara woke up the next day and through the next week she was dazed and confused her memory was foggy as she was self-blaming herself. Everting in her life was going well other than drinking, she questioned why she was sacrificing everything for drinking.
[16:27] How much did you drink?
Sara drank vodka in airplane size bottles, they were easier to consume, leaving no evidence. She would usually drink a few throughout the day, over time it progressed. Her consumption amounts were often up and down, Sara was never one that could have just one or two at dinner, she would always continue drinking through the night. When she decided to stop drinking, she was up to 6-7 drinks per night, and was starting early in the day. For Sara, her disease progression was more about the time of day she started rather than the amount. Usually a couple glasses of wine and some shots of alcohol. Sara tried to put multiple plans of control in place; only drink on the weekend, only after work, no hard liquor. Paul realizes the question of control is a dumb question. The thought that one day we can drink normal must be dismissed.
[19:38] How did you do it? Walk us through the first day, the first week.
Sara’s first week she doesn’t remember much, but had a lot of family events and weddings with open bars where she was put to the test. After she got through all the events without a drink, she wondered why she drank when she was loving everything she was doing sober not understanding why she ever started in the first place. Sara’s first few months have been filled with new activities; biking, hiking, gym. She has replaced drinking with trying new things.
[21:00] Tell us about your program.
Sara didn’t enlist any kind of program. Yet, even before the accident she was listening to sobriety podcasts, as she was contemplating sobriety. Sara then found RE which became her program. While doing her morning routine she has the podcast playing as her preferred recovery resource, along with fitness and other new routines. Paul reminds us that willpower is exhaustible and finite, eventually running out, leading to relapse. We need a daily affirmation to remember why you don’t drink.
[24:07] Sara shares her fears about being “found out” on the podcast: Being a psychiatrist and worried about people learning of her addiction. A lot of friends still don’t understand, and see alcoholics as worst case scenario. Images of bums is the picture normal people have. Sara knows that is not alcoholics are like, but struggles with the stigma even though she knows that is ridiculous. Paul sees Sara’s alcoholism as an untapped asset in her career. Sara chats with addicts face to face in a hospital setting and listens to their struggles. Many of her patients have been through been recovery. Sara’s advice to her patients is to take it one day at a time, she tells them about podcasts as many haven’t found a program. She is also able to offer resources that she uses herself. Paul suggests she uses her own experiences. Sara hopes to get to that point. She remembers to focus on the similarities not the differences. She is just not realizing that she has a problem. Paul is curious when she will get there. Sara realizes she needs to get rid of the fear of judgement. Paul shares how he came out as an alcoholic. Everybody knows somebody in recovery. Paul feels within time her superiors will admire her strength. What if she tells her first patient tomorrow? Sara was trained to never put focus on yourself, but you make exceptions to help with the rapport of the patient. How prevalent is addiction in the ER? Most of the ER is filled with intoxicated people, or those who are experiencing withdrawals; mostly in the evenings on weekends, and during the holidays. Paul knows counselors who have succeeded because they are also in recovery. Sara feels like telling Paul was her first big step going out into the digital world. Sara wants to connect with more people, and thinks she is in the right direction to come out of the closet about her sobriety.
[32:02] How do you stay sober today? Sara is awake at 5 AM does yoga, meditation, and plans her day. Sometimes she works out. After work Sara comes home and starts her evening routine: working out, meditation, and/or some planned quality time with friends and family, tennis lessons, or something new. Sara hopes to try out martial arts. She plans to do something new every few months to continue to grow and bring happiness to life.
[33:00] What is on your bucket list at one year? Sara hopes that after one year she is more involved in the sober community; she doesn’t have any support right now. Besides Cafe RE. She plans to surround herself with more people like her.
[33:57 ] What have you learned about yourself through sobriety? Sara learned that she doesn’t need alcohol to have a good conversation with people, she is OK just being herself. That has been the most intoxicating thing about being sober. Everything is even better without alcohol.
[34:41] What are your plans to stay sober during the holidays?
Sara thought the holidays would be hard, luckily for her she has a lot of family functions that were once her crutch, have become growth experiences. She doesn’t even think about drinking anymore; she auto looks for non-alcoholic beverages. While she misses the one glass of wine once in a while, she is content with beet juice now in a wine glass.
[36:01] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? Night of car accident and the day after; blackout
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? Sara has had a lot, mostly waking up not remembering what she did
- What’s your plan moving forward? Using Recovery Elevator and other podcasts. Paul recommends the Bubble Hour podcast
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? Taking it one day at a time
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? Stop trying to define if they are an alcoholic or not, wasting too many thoughts. Not drinking makes your life better
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…” Your idea of dieting is doing straight shots instead of mixed drinks.
by Paul Churchill | Oct 24, 2016 | Podcast
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Val has been sober for 6 months… This is her story…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE!
SHOW NOTES
If you drink enough alcohol over time our brains will change due to the response to alcohol. Some of the damage is irreversible, thus proving that you can pick up right where you left off (upon relapse). This is because there is still a dopamine hypersensitivity. Relapse is part of Paul’s story… After being sober for 2.5 years, Paul got another 8mos. of drinking under his belt, picking up right where he left off. There was no ramp-up phase because Paul’s brain is hyper-sensitive to alcohol. Good news! Even though in the brain there is this environment where dopamine hyper-sensitivity still exists, if you don’t drink then it’s not activated. This change is irreversible, but, if you don’t drink then it doesn’t react… Check out RE 87 for more detailed info on dopamine and our crazy brains.
[ 06:34 ] Paul introduces Val.
Val took her last drink on April 8th, 2016, just about 6 months ago. She is 44, married, and has 3 kids and one grandchild. She is originally from Billings, MT and has lived in the Big Sky area for 20 years. She loves to bake, knit, garden, camp, hike and just be outside.
[ 09:25 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. When did you hit bottom?
“Well, I’ve hit many bottoms in my life, but I finally reached that point where I knew I needed to change or else I was going to lose everything.” This was not Val’s first attempt at quitting drinking. She first tried to quit in her mid-20s when she decided to start having kids. Val quit drinking for 8 years, but was miserable. After owning a restaurant and dealing with the stress of that, Val broke down and started drinking again… After 8 years of sobriety! “That’s just how I dealt with stress. (Drinking) was the only way I knew how.”
[ 11:03 ] What is a dry drunk?
“I was not drinking, but my mind was still crazy. I was still trying to control everything around me, I didn’t understand life and I always felt that life was out to get me, that I was the victim.” Val explains her unhappiness as afraid of people, not being comfortable in her own skin, not having a higher power and trying to do everything herself… Now, Val is asking for help. “Before, I felt that I was a failure if I had to ask for help. My expectations that I held were so high and I could never meet them.”
[ 12:57 ] How much did you drink? Talk to us about your drinking habits.
Val was drinking at least a bottle of wine a night, and more like two bottles a night. “Because I was drinking wine, I thought it was not a big deal, that it wasn’t a problem.” Val tried every rule in the book: just on the weekends, or only in the evening… “When I started drinking during the day, that’s when I started having oh-shit moments.” Val always used the stress of work to qualify needing a drink.
[ 14:30 ] Val talks about losing her restaurant and the feelings of failure and stress that accompanied the experience.
[ 15:48 ] How did you do it? Walk us through the first day, the first week.
“The first day was a morning that I was so sick that I couldn’t go to work. I was so sick, sicker than I had ever been. It was a Tuesday night, and I was just sitting at home watching Netflix.” Val was watching Amy (the Amy Winehouse documentary) and discovered that Amy had died from alcohol poisoning… Val had a huge wakeup moment, realizing that the same thing could easily happen to her. Val white-knuckled it for about 30 days before she started drinking again. After connecting with Paul on a webinar, she accepted help and went to her first AA meeting.
[ 18:59 ] Tell us about your program.
“I read in the Big Book everyday if I can, usually before bed. I know a lot of people try to start their day with a reading, but I have a kid to get ready…” Val goes to her home group meeting every week, has a service position, meets with her sponsor every week and she is on a committee. Val chooses to stay involved.
[ 19:49 ] Do you feel more confident with 6mos. of sobriety?
We are all shaky when we step onto new foundations. “It is getting better, but I know I have work to do. I need to keep working on my program. I’m on the 4th step right now… Writing stuff out has been very helpful.” Val shares one of her resentments which is part of the 4th step, taking responsibility for her actions, emotions and experiences. “You need to forgive yourself in order to let the anger out… It feels awesome. I look at the world in a different way.”
[ 24:39 ] What have you learned about yourself through sobriety?
“I’ve been very dishonest with myself throughout life and I don’t want to be that way anymore. I just want to be who I am… I always felt that nobody would want to know the real me, but that’s not true, that’s the disease speaking.”
[ 25:46 ] What are your thoughts on relapse?
“Well, I’m only a drink away from relapse. It can happen so easily. I have to be sure to always call my sponsor if I have that urge to drink. I’m not hiding anymore… I’m interacting and asking for help when I need it.”
[ 26:24 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “Not having a memory… Blacking out and not remembering what I did.”
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “That morning I woke up so sick that I couldn’t go to work.”
- What’s your plan moving forward? “Continue working my program, make the relationship with my higher power stronger (accepting that I have a higher power) and I also think that I need to start worrying about what I think about myself instead of worrying about what others think.”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “You can’t fix it right away, it’s going to take awhile.”
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “Just do it. Just get yourself to a meeting.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“You pass out before the Amy Winehouse movie is over.”
Paul’s Life Hack:
Play the long game…
Resources mentioned in RE 88:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
Sobriety Tracker
Sober Selfies! – Send your Sober Selfie and your Success Story to info@recoveryelevator.com
The Compound Effect
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!
by Paul Churchill | Oct 17, 2016 | Podcast
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Kenny has been sober for 1 & 1/2 years… This is his tale…
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
SHOW NOTES
Why did alcohol stop working for me? (***Spoiler Alert*** If it still works for you, IT WILL STOP working.) I needed more and more of it to fill the same effects, a.k.a. the pleasure… We know that alcohol increases cravings in the brain by releasing dopamine… But, dopamine is actually the LEARNING chemical in the brain. Thus, it teaches us where to find pleasure… After we have found pleasure, i.e. tipping a bottle back over and over again, the body will eventually turn down alcohol to protect itself. Our brain is a beautiful system that has kept us alive for millions of years… How does it do this? The brain produces another chemical, which turns down the stimulation. I’ve learned that I have enhanced dopamine receptors. Now, if we lived in the age of saber-toothed tigers and always having to fight for our food, this would have kept me alive, however, not now and no longer! Over time, I needed more and more alcohol to get to the point of stimulation, of pleasure, I even needed it just to feel normal… This is an evolutionary mechanism built inside of us. However, the pleasure that we should be seeking is food, water, shelter, and Cinnamon Pop-Tarts! Not alcohol!!!
[ 06:18 ] Paul Introduces Kenny.
Kenny has been sober since April 3rd, 2015, about one and a half years. Kenny is 27 and grew up in a small farm town in California. He spent some time in Riverside, CA before moving to Montana to attend grad school. He is a PhD student, studying statistics. Kenny loves to work on his truck, build bikes and computers and wander around in nature, getting lost in the wilderness.
[ 07:30 ] Talk to us about your Elevator. What led up to your desire to stop drinking?
“It was a long, slow descent with a lot of bumps towards the bottom.” Kenny’s roommates started to notice and comment on his drinking habits. “Last March I missed classes because I was too drunk to get to class, this had never happened before… I had a BIG eye-opening experience and realized that this wasn’t just about me. I had to take responsibility.”
[ 10:02 ] How much did you drink? Did you ever try to put rules in place?
“It started when I was 21… I realized that it kind of helped me get my Math homework done. I’d have a gin and tonic or two, nightly or whenever I needed to get stuff done and then from there I was drinking like half a ⅕ of brandy in one afternoon.” This gradually progressed to being hungover or still drunk the next morning. Eventually Kenny was blacking out and waking up on a strange couch… “I came up with some schemes. I was supposed to call my best friend to stay accountable, which just led me to lying to her about how much I was drinking, which made me feel worse. My next scheme was that I got a little notebook, thinking that I could be accountable to myself and do it on my own…” This turned into Kenny tearing himself down and feeling guilty.
[ 15:33 ] Kenny talks more about his Elevator…
“I started talking to my new roommate who’s father had turned his life around after connecting with AA. She suggested that I give him a call, which I did. He completely understood the craving and how when I drank it was just never enough…”
[ 17:05 ] Kenny discusses “that feeling in your head.”
[ 18:08 ] What was it like when you quit drinking?
Kenny checked out a few AA meetings after talking to his roommate’s Dad… It took a couple times before he was ready to change his life. Sometime around April 3rd, 2015, there was a party… Kenny went to it having decided that he would try to drink just one drink and then go home. Kenny nursed that one drink for 1 ½ hours and was so proud that he took the opportunity to do shots with a buddy, waking up the next morning on a couch and not remembering anything from the night before… That next morning Kenny decided to give AA a shot.
[ 21:15 ] Kenny talks about his first experience at an AA meeting…
[ 22:00 ] Walk us through a typical day and how you stay sober.
“I usually get up at 4:00 or 4:30 am, I realized I’m a morning person! I make a nice big breakfast, take a shower and then head to school. I ride my bike and get to see the sun come up… In the evenings I try to meditate for 15 minutes or so and play my guitar.” Kenny has been working on mindfulness, trying to clear and calm his mind, becoming more aware of what’s going on inside his body. “I just close my eyes and focus my breath, just acknowledging what kind of breath I’m taking, just trying to pay attention to what’s going on inside.”
[ 35:17 ] Rapid Fire Round
- What was your worst memory from drinking? “When I was visiting my mom for Christmas and I got a call from my housemates saying that they couldn’t put up with my drinking any longer and that I needed to find a new place…”
- Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “That morning that I realized I was still drunk and didn’t make it to class, not only letting myself down but other students as well…”
- What’s your plan moving forward? “Keep doing what I’ve been doing, fitting in a meeting or two on the weekends and staying involved…”
- What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “Just don’t drink.”
- What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “Go connect with someone. Find someone else who has struggled with drinking and get to know them.”
“You Might be an Alcoholic If…”
“You’ve almost fallen in a campfire and didn’t know about it until the next morning when your friends tell you about it!”
Paul’s Life Hack:
Making decisions whether big or small is tough, so just eliminate a lot of the small decisions… Examples of stressful small decisions: “Should I drink tonight?” “How many drinks?” “What liquor store do I go to now?” “How do I sneak booze into the movie theater?” “How do I control my f****** drinking?” I no longer have to struggle over these small decisions because “I DON’T DRINK.” Make this one decision and the others are no longer relevant.
Resources mentioned in RE 87:
Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link:
www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/
Connect with Cafe RE
- For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel.
- First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator.
Sobriety Tracker
Sober Selfies! – Send your Sober Selfie and your Success Story to info@recoveryelevator.com
Dr. Wolfram Schultz
Dr. Daniel J. Levitin
Pop-Tarts Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Toaster Pastries
“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!”
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