Yesterday I was featured on Recovery Connection.org in an article called “What is Rock Bottom?” in which I stated “I’ve probably had ten rock bottoms, and none of them were the catalyst to my quitting drinking.” (By the way, please go to the website and SHARE the article on your favorite social media site, because I am trying to impress them with all the people who love me. You do love me, don’t you? I wouldn’t want to start drinking again…)
Because I am Word Girl, this morning I started thinking about the synonyms to “rock bottom” and about all the times I have royally messed up and kept on drinking. Nadir, all-time-low, base, bedrock, depths, record low, zero level… I used to have a friend who said she felt like she was “looking up at the carpet nap” (that is low).
As an alcoholic, I have gotten myself into the kinds of pickles the average person would never encounter. But for some reason these ghastly scenarios were not the reason I quit drinking. It seems that being stopped by the police for “erratic driving” thrice in one night (in three different cars) would have been the aha moment. Or entering US customs from The Bahamas with two black eyes, no front teeth and a cockamamie story about a golf cart accident…
There is so much good advice available on how to quit drinking. There are books and podcasts and prayer meetings and 12-Step programs and websites and psychiatrists and talk shows and rehab centers and jails available to help with the process. But I contend that unless you are ready, unless something clicks it will not stick.
When does it click?
And how do we bottle it?
Today I’m not drinking because It clicked.
How come you’re not drinking?
