I am an alcoholic and I shout it from the tallest mountain. I wear it as a badge of survival and conquest. I embrace it as a gift. I accept it as the full knowledge of what makes me...well...Me. I rejoice in the fact that I have a full knowledge of my physical and mental condition and now know not only how to treat it, but to use it to become the best person I can be. When I was an active alcoholic, I was a lost in the "misty dream"; broken physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I sought out those like me for comfort that never came. I was drifting into the insanity that only the alcoholic and addict knows.
Today I live life fearless and free. Not only free of the chains of alcohol but free to live life to the fullest. I have traveled the darkest paths, and with help, found the light of freedom, peace, and serenity. I now attack life with eyes wide open. I can see the traps and pitfalls and negotiate them with confidence. If I fall, I pick myself up, learn, and drive forward. I no longer drown myself in self-pity and languish in the abyss that alcohol brings. I do not waste a moment and am willing to show other sufferers the way out.
I realize that I would never have known such peace and freedom if I never feel into the grips of the alcoholic disease. I bear the scars of the past, not with shame and regret, but with somber reminder to stay the course and never turn back.
Comments