LISTEN – NO BOOZE IS GOOD BOOZE –

Jan 30, 2021 – You don’t realize how many times an alcoholic is asked, “Why can’t you just have one glass and stop drinking?” I didn’t know. I wanted to answer that question so badly for so long. I could, and did, have periods of complete abstinence from drinking, like Dry January.

The fact that I could do that, just stop drinking for five, 10 or 20 days, kept me wrapped warm in my disease of alcoholism for years. Decades. The not-dry decades. I told friends and family “see, I can’t be an alcoholic or whatever you think I am — I can stop drinking and I’m fine.” The problem was, though, once I picked up even one drink I couldn’t stop. One teeny, tiny itty-bitty glass of wine could lead me to completely forgetting where I was, who I was with or how I got there. My stomach drops now thinking of the unpredictability of it. That’s really why I get mad hearing about Dry January, because I’m afraid it may keep people like me locked in their addiction. Wrapped in their disease. Stopping isn’t necessarily the hardest part of getting sober. In my experience, that’s just the beginning, it’s staying stopped that’s really hard. 

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