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I'm no longer an alcoholic
Originally appeared on spirituality.com
I started drinking in my 20s and continued for 15 years, into the mid-'80s. By then, I was drinking every day, mostly after work. I got to the point where I couldn't go anywhere, even to visit family, unless I had a bottle of alcohol with me.
In social situations, drinking had become my daily substitute for comfort and courage, leading regularly to heavy intoxication. And as anyone who has ever leaned on it knows, alcohol's promises are false. For instead of the ease and strength I craved, alcohol only brought me self-loathing and weakness.
I accepted the label of “alcoholic” as part of my make-up—a characterization I took on without thinking, since one of my parents had been an alcoholic. I desperately wanted to do something about this destructive habit, but my addiction was so strong, I didn’t believe I could stop.
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