Tony…From Alcohol and Anger to Recovery and Serenity
It is always a genuine pleasure to interview a graduate from Rocky Mountain Treatment Center. I love to hear stories where lives were terrible, and then turned into love stories of living. Tony told me such a story.
Tony is your garden-variety alcoholic. His story is like millions that went before him. He spent many years trying to remain sober with no treatment or support. He tried willpower and while that worked for a while, it didn’t in the long run. Alcohol was the only pain relief he knew. As with many, he got to a point that he no longer wanted to live. Today he admits he didn’t know how to live. Tony went through Rocky Mountain Treatment Center in February 2017, and is celebrating a year and a half of contented sobriety. But let me share something he shared with me, which I think is incredibly important.
Tony shared with me that when he was “successfully” staying sober on willpower alone, he became a workaholic. He took all of his restlessness, irritability and discontent and channeled it into his work, sometimes putting in 80 to 120 hours a week. He wasn’t drinking, but he was just as big a S.O.B. as he was when he drank. He simply just put that into something other than drinking, but it had equally terrible results. That’s when he realized his problem wasn’t drinking as much as it was his thinking. That’s why he’s alive today and helping others.
I thank Tony for reminding me that nobody can run away from their addiction and that cross addiction is a real thing. His story has made me a better person and will continue to do so. I suggest we all take a page out of Tony’s playbook.
Thanks, Tony
Jim
James A. Francetich is a freelance writer and author. The opinions expressed are solely of the author and do not represent any community based recovery programs, private or public entities or any governmental agencies.