Re: Jumping in head first

Be my guest, Shadow - I know I was paraphrasing it myself too after all this time. I learned an enormous amount about myself in the process of getting alcohol out of my life and I'm always glad when someone else can make use of these things too.

It all comes down to taking personal responsibility for what we do as individuals, and that concept scares a lot of people. It's always a lot easier to try to cast the blame on something external, and in many ways, our society seems to encourage that mindset. I hear a lot of talk about how people are driven to pick up a drink because of the physical compulsion and, trust me, I understand that compulsion very well and will stand firm behind those that work to lessen that with nutrition because that does help a great deal. But, here's the important thing - the best supplements in the world will not prevent you from picking up a drink if you make that choice and the strongest physical compulsion in existence cannot make you take a drink if you choose not to. For me, to believe otherwise is the mindset of a slave.

When I first tried to get sober, I didn't believe that I had a choice - I completely and totalled believed that I was a hopeless case. I had to learn that I could be in control of my own body by combatting the emotional issues that drove me to drink, because ultimately they were far, far stronger than any phyical aspect of my alcoholism.

Hopefully, some of that makes sense to folks. I've never believed that there was only one specific pathway that led to sobriety, but do believe firmly that any pathway that succeeds will include taking whatever steps are necessary to regain control over our emotions and physical desires. And that, I feel, takes personal growth and critical thinking.

-Mary Tweet