What if an unwavering commitment to living alcohol-free could transform not just your life but the lives of those you love? In this minisode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, I respond to a question from a client about my journey after stepping away from AA two years into recovery. I recount my personal story, emphasizing the foundational support I found in AA and outpatient treatment, despite its mixed success.
I reflect on the profound impact of an alcohol-free life on relationships and personal integrity, detailing how my choice not to drink ensures my children, husband, and friends can always rely on me. For those struggling, I offer encouragement and a reminder that you are not alone—I'm praying for you every step of the way.
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
What if an unwavering commitment to living alcohol-free could transform not just your life but the lives of those you love? In this minisode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, I respond to a question from a client about my journey after stepping away from AA two years into recovery. I recount my personal story, emphasizing the foundational support I found in AA and outpatient treatment, despite its mixed success.
I reflect on the profound impact of an alcohol-free life on relationships and personal integrity, detailing how my choice not to drink ensures my children, husband, and friends can always rely on me. For those struggling, I offer encouragement and a reminder that you are not alone—I'm praying for you every step of the way.
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast Minisode. These shorter episodes provide quick tips and information that you can refer back to when you need it most so you can achieve and maintain your desired level of sobriety. I am your sobriety coach and host of this podcast, christy Walker. Let's get started podcast. Christy Walker, let's get started.
Speaker 1:
This week I was asked by a client how I have been able to be alcohol-free for so many years, especially early on in my sobriety, knowing that I had stopped going to AA two years into my recovery. And you know, I thought that was a great question because it's really something important for me to think about and remember. So I thought for today's mini-sode I'd reveal the answer I gave, because it was very helpful for my client and I hope it'll be helpful for you too. Now I do plan to do an episode on my real thoughts about AA, but this is not that episode on my real thoughts about AA. But this is not that episode. What I will say is, when I got sober, aa was the only game in town, and I mean other than maybe going to a rehab facility. I did go through outpatient treatment through my medical provider, which wasn't I wasn't very successful with that, but at the same time I was able to maintain 90 days of sobriety, which I had never been able to do before. So in that respect it was a win, and I always say there's no failure in trying, it's all learning. So I did definitely learn something from that experience, even if I wasn't quite ready to take the plunge. But when I entered the room I was met with compassion and understanding and love, and I gained tools that I have used throughout these 27 years and it has helped me stay alcohol-free has helped me stay alcohol-free. In fact, many of the steps in AA felt very familiar to me as a Catholic. So no doubt Alcoholics Anonymous has saved countless lives and families.
Speaker 1:
There just came a time when it wasn't for me anymore. There were things that just didn't sit right with me and I began leaving the rooms feeling really unsettled, and that's when I knew it was time for me to move on. Now there was a point before I left AA when I asked God to remove my desire to drink, because I was really, really struggling, and he did it. Because I was really, really struggling and he did it. Now, that didn't mean that I felt confident in every situation that involved alcohol, and it didn't mean that I had gotten myself together financially or I had mended all of my relationships or I was even making great choices because for sure I was not but I was getting better and stronger and definitely moving in the right direction, even if it was a slow roll. So how did I deal with feeling like the only one who didn't drink when I actually started drinking in the first place? To be part of a community? If you've listened to my story, you know that I started drinking to be part of something, to be someone, to be liked, to be loved, to be included.
Speaker 1:
Alcohol was like the magic elixir, a key to a door that I was sure behind it was everything that I had ever wished for. But here's the truth For everything that alcohol promises, it takes away so much more. It is a thief. It's a thief of time energy. It's a thief of time energy. It's a thief of youth, your health, vitality. Alcohol is a thief of authentic relationships and of mental clarity and so much more. And that is what I had to remember. That is what I have always kept in my mind.
Speaker 1:
Alcohol is poison for me. I have seen what addiction can do to people firsthand. I have seen what a life, attached to a substance designed to numb and distract, looks like from the outside, and it's devastating to witness Now. I once heard a man say in AA to think of alcohol like you do rat poison. He said you would never go into your garage, grab a box of rat poison and start eating it because you know it would kill you. And that's how it is. For those of us who, for us, one drink is too many and a thousand is never enough, alcohol is as dangerous to us as rat poison If we continue to drink. It isn't a matter of if it will kill us less, but when. If I continued to drink, if I picked up a bottle today, everything would be taken away, including my life, because I literally can not stop.
Speaker 1:
Now, some of you listening may not relate to this at all. Sure, you may overdo it and struggle a bit to maintain those healthy boundaries around your alcohol consumption. Maybe you realize that alcohol is taking up more space in your life than you feel comfortable with and maybe you need some extra support and tools to do that, and that's why you're here. But you still need to hear this because no one is immune from addiction. Anyone and I mean anyone can become addicted to alcohol if the misuse goes unaddressed, if the misuse goes unaddressed. That is why the work that I do is so focused on reaching those of you in that gray in-between area, the middle between normal drinking and addiction.
Speaker 1:
Now, in those early days, I told myself if I drink I die. Of course, unlike ingesting rat poison, it probably wouldn't happen right away. However, chances were probably pretty good that I would have ended up with a DUI. I could have ended up in jail, I would probably end up homeless because everybody was sick of living with me, or I would have ended up in a very dangerous situation that could have had a horrific outcome. So I started reminding myself of all the things that would never happen as long as I stayed away from alcohol. The I will nevers, if you will, and they go something like this. As long as I don't drink, I will never have a hangover, I will never get a DUI. I will never miss another Mother's Day because I was too hungover and I forgot. I will never call someone in the middle of the night and not remember what I said. I will never wake up and wonder how the heck did I get here? I will never waste another minute being wasted. I will never black out. And the list goes on.
Speaker 1:
Now, as the years passed and I resisted alcohol, I got better jobs, I got married, I had kids. I was able to fulfill my dream of staying home with my children fulfill my dream of staying home with my children and I started a freelance writing business. I returned to the Catholic Church. I helped start a women's Bible study at my parish, which we're going to be entering our ninth year in the fall. I volunteered in various ways at my parish and at my children's school, and I have so many friends and genuine connections with people.
Speaker 1:
The best part is people know that they can count on me. They can count on me to be present, to be kind, to be supportive, that they can confide in me, that I will pray with them and for them and that I'm honest. If I started drinking again, everything I built would crumble away. As long as I don't drink, my children will never see me drunk. My husband never has to worry that I will betray him. My family knows that when I say I will be there, I will be there and not hours later. My friends know that when I am present with them, I am fully present, and my Lord knows that I am forever grateful and I'm doing the best that I can to lead others to him.
Speaker 1:
If you are struggling in your commitment to maintain your sobriety, or if you're wondering if drinking is becoming a problem for you, I encourage you to sit with the Lord and prayerfully make your list of things that will never happen again if you continued in your sobriety or started to live a life free from alcohol. Well, that wraps up today's episode of the Catholic Sobriety Minisode. Thank you so much for joining me and please be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss a thing. And remember I am here for you, I am praying for you. You are not alone.