Aisha took her last drink on July 28, 2017. This is her story.
Update on the Alcohol is Sh!t book! The book comes out in 5 days! This is also Paul’s 5-year alcohol free date! Pick up your copy on Amazon September 7, 2019!
On today’s episode Paul talks about celebrities that have ditched the booze and why this group of the population is affected by addiction way more than the average population.
SHOW NOTES
[9:30] Paul introduces Aisha.
Aisha is 42 years old and lives in Atlanta, GA. She is a lawyer, married and has a 10-year-old. Aisha enjoys reading recovery/addiction memoirs along with fiction.
[14:50] Give us a background on your drinking.
Aisha says that a big part of why she drank was that she was trying to fit in. Both of Aisha’s parents were alcoholics. She is African-American and Hispanic and was raised in rural America where she didn’t see a lot of people that looked like her.
Aisha didn’t really start drinking until she started law school and she started drinking alcoholically after she started practicing law. There were a few months when she had the FBI watching her house because of a threat she had received, during those months she was so scared that she was drinking every day. Because of her experience with alcoholics in her family she knew where her drinking was going, and she knew she needed to quit.
[22:34] Did you have a rock bottom moment?
Aisha says her bottom was when she “missed the toilet”, literally. She knew she needed help then, but didn’t stop drinking at that time. She did however go to an AA meeting.
[26:15] Tell us more about your AA experience.
Aisha says when she went to AA, she was legitimately looking for help. After listening to the speaker share, she felt like she could not relate. She didn’t let that stop her from going back, but after some condescending comments at another AA meeting she went back to drinking.
[28:15] What do you think finally pushed you over the edge to start logging in the time?
Aisha didn’t let the bad experiences she had had at AA stop her from trying other meetings. She went to a lot of meetings and finally found one that she felt loved and welcomed at.
[40:55] How has the wanting to fit in changed since getting sober?
Aisha says she is much more purposeful. She is much more focused on the whys of doing things. She is also much more open to feed back from others.
[46:30] In the last 2 years have you had a difficult moment where you thought you were going to drink and how’d you get through it?
Aisha says she has not, and she know she is very fortunate. She says that the smell of alcohol disgusts her now. She has, however, had moments of fomo and has wished she could drink with friends at times.
[51:20] Rapid Fire Round
What is a memorable moment that a life without alcohol has given you?
Going on vacation with her family and her daughter and waking up early with her and remembering everything.
What is your favorite alcohol-free drink?
Mango Bubly
What are some of your favorite resources in recovery?
The stories in the back of the AA Big Book; A Girl Walks Out of a Bar; and people…I really enjoy the Café RE Facebook group.
What’s on your bucket list in an alcohol-free life?
I have a lot of changes that I am in the process of making in my life personally, I don’t want to put them out on the podcast. But I think that in the next year there are some things in my life that are going to look very different.
And what parting piece of guidance can you give to listeners?
This is truly life and death, but it is also one day, one moment, one second at a time.
You might have a drinking problem if...
You’re dropping a deuce, and you think you’re on the toilet, and when you get up, you’re not even close to the toilet.
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