Are you a sober snob? If you’ve never happened upon such a character, these are the folks that believe there is but one way- the way they choose- to get and stay sober. In all honesty, I’ve stumbled upon many of these folks along my path. Most (I would say all, but don’t want to be ALL or nothing 🙂) of which are 100% pro a certain 12 step program, or 100% anti the same program.

My recovery story started in a rehab. There, I was first exposed to the 12-step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. I dove in. I believed what I was being spoon fed by the counselors, therapists, and fellow recovering folks. I clung to the program like a drowning woman clutches on to a life preserver, as they say. I willingly and desperately handed over the shovel that I had been using to dig my own grave. Please…..take it.

I wish I could say I’ve been sober ever since. That is simply not my story. My story is that I got out of rehab and realized I was different. I didn’t need anyone else. I could rise above this on my own will power. I returned to what I knew best, alcohol, two months out. The first two times I picked up a drink, I was able to drink one and be done. By night 3, I was back. The disease of alcoholism is progressive and fatal. Regardless whether I stand, drink in hand, my disease continues to wreak havoc. Left untreated, it grows and festers within me. There are no walls, fences, or barricades for which my disease falters. It will, with unyielding veracity, advance to places unknown, until death us do part.

For reasons beyond my own thinking, in 2004 I was blessed with chance #565,000-ish. I trudged my butt into an AA meeting. Working a program with a sponsor was exactly what I needed. I needed a mother bird to bring me food, remind me to open my mouth, and regurgitate wisdom into my presence. If she had told me that the color green was in fact orange, that I had been lied to since age two, I would have gone and tried to relearn all the colors. I was desperate to find a way to live. My infantile gestures permitted movement and growth at a sloth pace. Unbeknownst to me, exactly what I needed. Baby steps.

As I’ve continued to plod along on my journey of recovery, I’ve found that there is no one perfect trajectory to happy, joyous, and free living. Not everyone has a path like or similar to mine. Nor does everyone require it. I believe it took what it took for me to get here and to wherever it is I’m going. That said, I’ve met recovering friends that have never traveled through the rooms of AA, and they stay their course and remain sober.

We are all different with divergent mind sets, distinctive opinions, and diverse ideas. Again, I don’t see or believe in a one-way suits all path to recovery and sobriety. I do believe that we can’t do it alone. There are millions of recovering, sober celebrants around the globe. Why would I barricade myself from them? No matter where you came from, how you do it, or where you are going, I can learn from you. So I welcome you, your ideas, experience, strength, and hope. ThankYou for being you!