How Do I Know If I’m an Alcoholic? People often ask me, “How do I know if I’m an alcoholic?”Most of us carry around stereotypes about alcoholism—the person sleeping under a bridge, homeless, or living in a shelter. But alcoholism doesn’t always look like that. I’ve known alcoholics who held full-time jobs, were successful in…
Author: Jim C.
Trudging The Road
Trudging the Road of Happy Destiny “Trudging the road of happy destiny” has come to describe for me the daily process of recovery in AA. Recovery is not a race to get well overnight so I can hurry on to other things. I’ve learned in my own life that completing the Twelve Steps does not…
Conditional Sobriety
Do Not Place Conditions on Sobriety I learned early in AA that it is very important not to place conditions on sobriety. If I truly believed there would someday be a “legitimate” reason to drink, I probably would have jumped off the wagon much sooner. As impulsive as I am, why would I wait for…
Fifty Years of Sobriety
Fifty Years of Sobriety, One Day at a Time Reaching fifty years of continuous sobriety gave me a reason to stop and reflect on the journey. By that anniversary, I had lived 18,262 days without a drink—one day at a time. May 11, 1976, was my first day in AA, and I remain deeply grateful…
My Last Drink
My Last Drink: A Mother’s Prayer May 10, 1976, was the day I took my last drink. The drinking had started the evening before in a bar and continued through the night, into the early morning hours, and well into the afternoon. At the time, it seemed like just another typical day of drinking. I…
Call Your Sponsor
Call Your Sponsor Before You Drink In the north Atlanta area, where I lived for more than thirty years, many AA groups hand out a shiny aluminum beginner’s chip. On the back it reads: “Call your sponsor before—not after—you take the first drink.” That is wise advice. Yet, judging by the number of chips handed…