Living Within Samsara

Alcoholism is not just for adults. These 7 episodes reflect only a small glimpse into my alcoholic past as a kid; Episodes of drunken debauchery or alcoholic misconduct that jumped into my head as soon as I began writing after a friend tagged me for a “7 Things About Me” meme. These are by no means my worst drunkenly imbibed feats of idiocy, just the ones I feel I can safely share without too much of a backlash on my self-esteem or emails from irate parents. [Resources for kids who may be alcoholic follow the 7 episodes. Parents, if you have a potential alcoholic child in your household, I would encourage you to read this together with the emphasis being that if *I* can recover, so can anyone.]

What people think of me is none of my business. I want to, in tandem with episodes from my life, show how this philosophy gets reconciled with truth, peace, spiritual growth and integrity. And furthermore, how anyone can achieve this impeccable ideal. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of crazy-makers, gossip-mongerers, chaos junkies, and provocateurs of drama triangles. Learn to quit being a victim of other peoples’ words. [Hints and specific instructions included.]

There are other ways to stop drinking besides Alcoholics Anonymous. Alcoholics Anonymous has no monopoly on sobriety, even though the [outside issue of] Courts sentencing people to A.A. meetings is becoming more and more common. Alcoholics Anonymous, through the 12 Traditons, neither endorses nor opposes any cause and that includes other ways to get or stay sober as well as Court mandated meetings. Along this same vein, belies the idea that A.A. is the only path to sobriety. This is not true. And every A.A. member who is “practicing these principles in all their affairs” will tell you the same thing. This article will address some fundamental questions and hopefully dispel some misconceptions, as well as offer my own experience, strength, and hope along with other resources for different avenues to sobriety. So yes. A person can stop drinking without Alcoholics Anonymous; it is but one path.

Reconstructing Rick, with a byline reading “An Addict Trying to Recover” is a blog told from the mind of a newly recovering drug addict who’s been through the trenches of hell itself and has managed to escape. When drugs, sexual exploitation, street living, and prostitution is what you’ve known for so many years, Rick offers what it’s like to learn a different way of life. His is yet another journey within Samsara. Follow his journey. I am.

Do you have a loved one or relative who drinks? This is a memoir of what I went through.

Because of my own battles with alcoholism, I was finally able to love my relative completely and wholly without expecting her to stop drinking. Because I found a solution for my problem, it also helped me to find a solution for “life’s problem.” I am so grateful I did have a second chance at life because it got me to a place of accepting my beloved’s illness along with accepting her. I credit this acceptance with my Codependent recovery after I got sober - that I never could have understood UNTIL I got sober.

If you don’t have a drinking problem, I can still offer you some resources - for YOU - if you have a relative or loved one who drinks.

Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are for alcoholics. Increasingly, though, more and more addicts-only as well as the dual-addicted person is showing up to meetings.

How does A.A. address this? Does A.A. address this? Are “addicts only” welcome? Is it conducive to the group purpose to introduce yourself as an addict or alcoholic/addict? How about if you have no problem with alcohol? Can A.A. still help you? And who enforces the Traditions anyway? These are questions I hope to answer with extensive clarity.

After several messages of friends online asking “How do I help an alcoholic friend stop drinking?” I knew, then, I needed to do something. Therefore I am going to offer some easy points. But before you take off with these points, I am sure to have some Al-Anons or Codependents who’ve arrived at this page and their mouths may be agape with the thought, “I knew it! I knew it was possible! I knew I could get him to stop drinking! They never told me this in Al-Anon!” Well. There is a little more to it than that. :)

I’m done with Alcoholics Anonymous groups as a whole. I still go to private meetings who observe the Traditions and make it a point to do so but the last few public meetings I have been to haven’t felt okay with me. I’ve decided I am tired of constantly fighting for something I believe in while holding out my empty bucket waiting for it to get filled. I’ve left the sickness behind and my bucket is practically overflowing.

Some people in A.A. would say that if you can get sober without A.A. then you are not a real alcoholic. These same people would say that unless you join A.A., and you are a real alcoholic, then you will not get sober. This article is going to prove how the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, itself, refutes that idea.

Alcoholics Anonymous? is *NOT* a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope by trying to get you to see that Jesus will save you. Members of A.A. who proclaim this message, no matter how implicit or benign, go against the very foundation A.A. is founded upon.