It’s the best way I can describe my alcohol addiction.  My name is Russ and I’m a recovering alcoholic.  I guess you could say I was always a bit of a loner.  I did well in school but didn’t really play any sports or hang out with a lot of people.  I went to a local community college, got an Associates Degree and got myself a job as a cold caller for an insurance company. 

Life was good and I moved my way up the ranks to become a full on salesman before long.  But I found sales was vastly different from my cold calling days.  In sales, I had to meet in person with clients and not only did I have to tell them about the product, I also had to be personable and wine and dine them too.  Well, I started to notice that the more I did the wine part, the easier it became for me to make small talk and be the guy that I thought everybody liked. 

I became this slick salesman that could sell ice to people in winter and the money was kept getting better, but alcohol was also becoming my sales partner.  I’d start drinking by 11AM and keep going through the dinner hour and into the night when I got home.  I don’t know how it happened because I didn’t even feel it happening. It wasn’t all at once, it was like a quiet sneaky trick that the bottle played on me… as time went on my problems got worse and worse.

And they began to notice at work.  The big bosses spoke to me about it, and I would dry out for a couple days but the fact is, as long as my sales numbers stayed great nobody really cared if I was boozing again or not. Alcohol would creep back into my life slowly at first and take me over like a storm washing over the coast of Maine.

My sales would drop, my bills stopped getting paid and I went from hero to zero. I tried to get sober a few times on my own and each time it ended up failing short. I’d do better for a while, get a pat on the back from my bosses and then fall back down just as fast again as the cycle repeated itself over and over.

You can’t eliminate addiction, but you can overcome it. The first step is replacing it with something else, something healthy and constructive.  Just as alcohol was my crutch, I needed a crutch to lean on so that I could beat my dependence one and for all.  The fellowship of men and women that welcomed me into rehab became that crutch. 

The hope and strength that they shared with me through their own experiences helped me get my life back on track.  The process was long and hard, but I can say I’m on my way back up from zero to hero and I’ve learned not to measure my dignity with sales figures or empty bottles.  Every day is a new day and I want to thank all my brothers and sisters that have helped me along on my journey.

NEVER GIVE UP HOPE ONCE YOU STOP DRINKING — EVERY THING ELSE FALLS INTO PLACE.

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It’s the best way I can describe my alcohol addiction.  My name is Russ and I’m a recovering alcoholic.  I guess you could say I was always a bit of a loner.  I did well in school but didn’t really play any sports or hang out with a lot of people.  I went to a local community college, got an Associates Degree and got myself a job as a cold caller for an insurance company. 

Life was good and I moved my way up the ranks to become a full on salesman before long.  But I found sales was vastly different from my cold calling days.  In sales, I had to meet in person with clients and not only did I have to tell them about the product, I also had to be personable and wine and dine them too.  Well, I started to notice that the more I did the wine part, the easier it became for me to make small talk and be the guy that I thought everybody liked. 

I became this slick salesman that could sell ice to people in winter and the money was kept getting better, but alcohol was also becoming my sales partner.  I’d start drinking by 11AM and keep going through the dinner hour and into the night when I got home.  I don’t know how it happened because I didn’t even feel it happening. It wasn’t all at once, it was like a quiet sneaky trick that the bottle played on me… as time went on my problems got worse and worse.

And they began to notice at work.  The big bosses spoke to me about it, and I would dry out for a couple days but the fact is, as long as my sales numbers stayed great nobody really cared if I was boozing again or not. Alcohol would creep back into my life slowly at first and take me over like a storm washing over the coast of Maine.

My sales would drop, my bills stopped getting paid and I went from hero to zero. I tried to get sober a few times on my own and each time it ended up failing short. I’d do better for a while, get a pat on the back from my bosses and then fall back down just as fast again as the cycle repeated itself over and over.

You can’t eliminate addiction, but you can overcome it. The first step is replacing it with something else, something healthy and constructive.  Just as alcohol was my crutch, I needed a crutch to lean on so that I could beat my dependence one and for all.  The fellowship of men and women that welcomed me into rehab became that crutch. 

The hope and strength that they shared with me through their own experiences helped me get my life back on track.  The process was long and hard, but I can say I’m on my way back up from zero to hero and I’ve learned not to measure my dignity with sales figures or empty bottles.  Every day is a new day and I want to thank all my brothers and sisters that have helped me along on my journey.

NEVER GIVE UP HOPE ONCE YOU STOP DRINKING — EVERY THING ELSE FALLS INTO PLACE.

1 Comment