Mike's Story

Hello, my name is Mike and i am an alcoholic

A bit over 7 years ago i woke up one morning
in jail. My waking up in jail was a direct result
of my drinking.

A rational person in that situation would have
quit drinking. Being an alcoholic, i didn't think
that way.
i decided i just needed to be a bit more careful.
A few months later, i stood in court in front of
a judge. Do you know he had the nerve to "suggest"
that i should go to AA ???
After a brief discussion with my lawyer as to other options
i decided that AA was a better option than standing trial.
I came to AA not with an honest desire to get sober,
but with an honest desire to not go to jail.
After going to meetings for a few months i noticed
that people in AA seemed to be doing better at dealing
with life than i was.

I started listening to what people were saying, i heard
" if you want what we have, do what we do"
Eventually my still booze soaked brain realized that meant
work those step things. grrrrrr. I really didn't want to do that.
Life kept getting worse and i drank more to deal with it.
It got to the point where i was desperate, desperate enough to
follow some suggestions. Just the first one to start with.
Step 1 "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol--that our lives had become unmanageable."
That was certainly true.
I kept following suggestions and life started getting better.
Not suddenly, and not by a huge amount, but it got better.
Today, 2563 days since i had what i hope was my last drink
life is good. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than it was
when i was drinking.

Life has steadily been getting better since i came to AA.

I think i'll keep coming.