“Alcohol was the substance I just could not go without – I felt safe with alcohol.” -Al
Today, Ben and I are talking to Al, a native of Pittsburgh, who is sharing with us today his journey and what he did to become sober. He talks with us about Foundations – a program that provides housing for men moving through their journey of sobriety.
At the age of 16, Al found a bottle of homemade wine in the basement of his home and decided to try it. When he drank, Al noticed that he didn’t feel embarrassment, a common emotion he would have in public. “It seemed that alcohol was a solution for me, I didn’t realize the hell that was in for me with alcohol.” Although he wasn’t aware of becoming an alcoholic, this was the start down the path to addiction.
“I thought that everyone drank to feel good,” says Al. He didn’t recognize that there was a social aspect to drinking. Today, Al acknowledges that you need to be OK with your strengths and weaknesses and that having good self-esteem and self-worth is a key component to completely recover from an addictive state.
When he talks about his addiction, Al says that his wheels fell off when the alcohol “didn’t work anymore.” At this point, there wasn’t an amount of alcohol that he could drink that didn’t make him sick. However, he didn’t know how to or who to ask for help.
Today, Al is grateful that he doesn’t have to use alcohol to feel good. “It’s incredible to not have that chemical holding me hostage all day!” Now, he learns about himself daily and seeks out meaningful relationships with others.
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