Hi! My name is Shannon, an alcoholic, sober today thanks to my Higher Power and this Fellowship.

I thought I had so many reasons to drink when I was drinking, and I may have had "reasons" in my mind, but I never had any "excuses" for drinking. When I first got sober, I thought the emotional pain of putting down my security blanket and the physical withdrawals were going to kill me. But I was desperate enough to listen and to believe what you all told me: "Don't pick up the first drink under any circumstance and things will get better!" I wanted to know how could things get better when all I really wanted was to crawl under a rock and die. They smiled, and told me to keep coming back, focus on the First Step, the Third Tradition, and the Serenity Prayer. My problem was that I couldn't think of what to replace my drinking with, but members told me what they'd had to do, and what they did today. The fact is that I wasn't overjoyed with discovering I was an alcoholic, but by the grace of God, I could see what would happen if I kept on drinking and I didn't want that. My best thinking got me here. I cannot manage my life, so I needed to try something else. So I hung in there. Each time I was about to throw in the towel, it would pass, and I would be so grateful I didn't choose to pick up that drink after all. I did anything but drink. I kicked, I cried, and cried some more, but I didn't drink and the insanity of early sobriety passed. Today, I have better ways to process my emotions than to numb myself with a drink. Today, I know that there is a solution and if I drink I will have two problems instead of one. Nothing is worth drinking over. Things come and go, everything passes, but my peace of mind and happiness depend on whether or not I look after my sobriety. I am no fan of emotional pain, and to be honest, to drink would seem an easy way out to fix the pain in the moment some days. But you people, this program, and my Higher Power have blessed me with vision. As long as I keep focused on me and keep putting one foot in front of the other, the best is yet to come as long as I just don't drink ... simple!

Thanks for letting me share.