Hi everyone, I'm Sharon and I'm an alcoholic.

When I was first coming around to meetings I'd always hear slogans like, "Your head is like an unsafe neighborhood; don't go there alone." I had a lot of trouble with Step Two in admitting I was insane in many ways. Now that I am eleven years sober, I see the difference between much-needed solitude and isolating. When I isolate, I stay away from meetings, don't use the phone to talk to my AA friends, stop reading literature, praying, etc. I cut myself off from what the Eleventh Step so beautifully calls "The Sunlight of the Spirit." And after a while, I start to feel really creepy and crazy. My low self-esteem returns, I think about self-destructive behavior, I get really cranky and irritable. Then I make myself go to a meeting and the relief is immediate and I kick myself for having stayed away. Alcoholism really is a disease of the mind, body and spirit. When I'm out of touch with the program, I'm out of my mind! Thanks for listening.

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