Hollywood actor Anthony Hopkins has now been sober and a long term recovering alcoholic for decades. Many years ago, in an interview, Barbara Walters asked Mr. Hopkins what he considered to be the most important aspect of being sober. Mr. Hopkins replied to the interviewer, “freedom from alcohol”.
Addiction is truly a great deceiver to its victims. We alcoholics begin the journey of addiction by first being led into believing drugs and alcohol somehow mysteriously provide the relief we seek when what we actually suffer from are the effects of a low self esteem. As the journey continues, an arrogant wall of self righteousness is built around ourselves brick by brick, one day at a time. In the end, what we alcoholics and addicts have constructed around ourselves is an invisible glass prison where we have learned to lie to ourselves in order to keep the game going. We even learn to protect our way of existence, which is actually the “watering hole”, with every manufactured justification we can conjure together.
For thirty one years, this alcoholic proudly proclaimed to the world he had his life perfect in every way and exactly as he wanted. It was a tiny world that existed of a job in one place, a house only a few miles away and a store that sold alcohol in between. This alcoholic was truly a slave to this world and resisted fervently any attempts that pushed at him to step out of this narrow existence.
It is only after being “freed” from alcohol that one can truly see the jail addiction becomes. This alcoholic no longer has to fear the power of an unjust employer. This alcoholic no longer fears panic if the house runs low of alcohol. This alcoholic no longer fears being asked to perform in some way early in the mornings, which use to be a request that would strike absolute terror within this examiner. This alcoholic no longer fears someone asking him for his signature for fear someone would notice the shaking hands and the secret would be out. Today, this alcoholic is FREE from alcohol.
Anyone in Columbia SC seeking a similar path out of the bondage of alcohol and addiction can begin their personal journey by contacting:
AA Intergroup
3014 Devine Street, Room 103
Columbia SC 29205
(803) 254-5301
or on the net at:
www.area62.org
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Alcoholism – What makes someone addicted…. to anything?
Why do people become addicted? On the surface this question may seem simplistic and rather meaningless. Obviously people become addicted to things in life by using or consuming them, right? If an alcoholic never drank, would they really become an alcoholic? If a drug addict never swallowed a pill, would they become a drug addict? If a gambler never entered a casino….. well, you get the point.
These issues are quite complicated and the further along the “ism” path one moves along, the more complicated the issues become. For instance, most of these issues become “multiplistic” addictions toward later stages. What is meant by that, for instance in the case of alcohol, the alcoholic will eventually become both psychologically addicted as well as physically addicted.
But is this “multiple” dilemma true in the beginning? What really occurs the very first time someone takes a drink, swallows a pill, places a bet? The answers this examiner knows today come from the experiences of his very on life combined with literally thousands of stories told throughout AA. Without exception, almost everyone that develops an addiction in life usually begin the journey around a common age of fourteen, fifteen or sixteen. The intense psychological emotions and needs of feeling “Secure and Loved” can almost always be found at the root of any addiction. The chemical that gets set free in our bodies seem to satisfy these needs in some perverse way.
It took many years of sobriety for this writer to realize that with his first drink, which was a can of beer at the age of fifteen, the alcohol produced the most wonderfully euphoric feelings of being accepted, “a part of” or “belonging to”, “good enough” and yes….. even loved. This “effect” was truly a remarkable Dr Jeckle and Mr. Hyde transformation. However, it was a transformation that happened ONLY in MY mind and was not real! The friends, who were so very important at that time, did not really see the miraculous change that occurred in my mind. However, the satisfaction that came from that transformation was a feeling that was very real to me and I desperately pursued the effect every day for the next thirty one years!
These issues are quite complicated and the further along the “ism” path one moves along, the more complicated the issues become. For instance, most of these issues become “multiplistic” addictions toward later stages. What is meant by that, for instance in the case of alcohol, the alcoholic will eventually become both psychologically addicted as well as physically addicted.
But is this “multiple” dilemma true in the beginning? What really occurs the very first time someone takes a drink, swallows a pill, places a bet? The answers this examiner knows today come from the experiences of his very on life combined with literally thousands of stories told throughout AA. Without exception, almost everyone that develops an addiction in life usually begin the journey around a common age of fourteen, fifteen or sixteen. The intense psychological emotions and needs of feeling “Secure and Loved” can almost always be found at the root of any addiction. The chemical that gets set free in our bodies seem to satisfy these needs in some perverse way.
It took many years of sobriety for this writer to realize that with his first drink, which was a can of beer at the age of fifteen, the alcohol produced the most wonderfully euphoric feelings of being accepted, “a part of” or “belonging to”, “good enough” and yes….. even loved. This “effect” was truly a remarkable Dr Jeckle and Mr. Hyde transformation. However, it was a transformation that happened ONLY in MY mind and was not real! The friends, who were so very important at that time, did not really see the miraculous change that occurred in my mind. However, the satisfaction that came from that transformation was a feeling that was very real to me and I desperately pursued the effect every day for the next thirty one years!
Alcoholics Anonymous – Why?
Everyone hearing the words, “Alcoholics Anonymous” will immediately have some preconceived connotation, on a scale of 0 – 10, of exactly what AA is (ranging from 0 – 10). So what, exactly, “IS” Alcoholics Anonymous, what does it do for anyone and “WHY” would a person go there?
The first imagine many people have of an AA meeting is that of a “gloomy and depressing” place where only “losers” go and nothing very positive happens. Some people even mistakenly believe it is a place where alcoholics go to learn “how to drink”. Others think it to be a place where certain questions can get answered like, “How did I get this”, “How do I get rid of it”, “How do I get my life back”, or “When can I stop coming here”?
The truth of the matter is that Alcoholics Anonymous is like so many other things in life, “it is simply whatever one wants to make of it”. In other words, an individual can put into AA very little or a great deal and in the end, that same person will probably realize either a very little, or a great deal.
Just like every church, school or hospital is not satisfactory to everybody, different AA groups seem to “fit” individuals differently. Sometimes a person simply needs to experiment with different groups before determining whether they actually “like” AA or not.
As for AA being a “gloomy” place? Well….. is it really the AA meeting or is it a time in ones life where the experiences are simply “depressing”? Wouldn’t this period of time be “gloomy” regardless of AA?
This examiner can never really “tell” anyone anything but can only relay their on personal experiences. Ten years ago, in 2001 when this examiner needed an AA group to attend, it just so happened he was living in a very rural place in Alabama where the nearest AA group was thirty minutes away by car. Events just happened to fall in such a way that a new AA group sprouted up in that location. Now, ten years later and moved on to a completely different life in ColumbiaSC, this small AA group has invited this examiner to be their guest speaker this coming Saturday evening celebrating their ten year anniversary. The absolute joy this honor brings is indescribable and could have never been anticipated. All I had to do was simply “Be There”.
The first imagine many people have of an AA meeting is that of a “gloomy and depressing” place where only “losers” go and nothing very positive happens. Some people even mistakenly believe it is a place where alcoholics go to learn “how to drink”. Others think it to be a place where certain questions can get answered like, “How did I get this”, “How do I get rid of it”, “How do I get my life back”, or “When can I stop coming here”?
The truth of the matter is that Alcoholics Anonymous is like so many other things in life, “it is simply whatever one wants to make of it”. In other words, an individual can put into AA very little or a great deal and in the end, that same person will probably realize either a very little, or a great deal.
Just like every church, school or hospital is not satisfactory to everybody, different AA groups seem to “fit” individuals differently. Sometimes a person simply needs to experiment with different groups before determining whether they actually “like” AA or not.
As for AA being a “gloomy” place? Well….. is it really the AA meeting or is it a time in ones life where the experiences are simply “depressing”? Wouldn’t this period of time be “gloomy” regardless of AA?
This examiner can never really “tell” anyone anything but can only relay their on personal experiences. Ten years ago, in 2001 when this examiner needed an AA group to attend, it just so happened he was living in a very rural place in Alabama where the nearest AA group was thirty minutes away by car. Events just happened to fall in such a way that a new AA group sprouted up in that location. Now, ten years later and moved on to a completely different life in ColumbiaSC, this small AA group has invited this examiner to be their guest speaker this coming Saturday evening celebrating their ten year anniversary. The absolute joy this honor brings is indescribable and could have never been anticipated. All I had to do was simply “Be There”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)