Dusty, with a sobriety date of 9/21/15, shares his story.
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I recently finished reading the book The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. The book isn’t specifically a recovery book, but some of the ideas and themes can be applied to getting sober and staying sober. When it comes to the journey into sobriety there are 2 tipping points I want to cover in this episode. The first one happens when you start to question whether alcohol is serving a positive purpose in your life and the second one occurs when you quit drinking.
At the end of the episode I will talk about a third tipping point, one to avoid.
SHOW NOTES
[6:55] Paul Introduces Dusty.
Dusty is 38 years old, lives in Bozeman, Montana, and has a sobriety date of 9/21/15, just over 39 months since his last drink. He is an accountant. He loves playing recreational sports, just started playing hockey this year, after learning how to skate.
[10:30 ] Give us a little background about your drinking.
He started drinking when he was in high school and fell in love with it. Same thing through college, but once he finished college that is when his drinking progressed. It was at this time drinking was no longer fun and started to get out of control. He was drinking alone in his apartment.
[11:43 ] Did you ever try and put any rules into play, or try and quit?
He would try and only drink on the weekends, try and cut out beer, try to regulate. It never worked.
[15:01 ] What was your rock bottom, or your tipping point?
After going on a 10 hour bender, watching college football one Saturday in the downtown bars of Bozeman he was informed the following day that he had kicked a girl that night before. He had no recollection of doing that. Running into the girl on Sunday and seeing the look on her face was his rock bottom.
[24:52 ] How did you stay sober after the first month?
He has a great group of friends that once he shared that he was an alcoholic they gave him 100% support. He also got really involved in the RE Facebook group.
[30:35 ] Referring to the quote, “drinking is but a symptom”, do you know why you drank?
Probably genetically predisposed to it, it’s on both sides of his family. And like he stated earlier, he started drinking for fun in high school and then it turned into more of pity drinking in his late 20s.
[38:50 ] Rapid Fire Round
True or False, love is the answer…and why?
Absolutely! Love conquers all.
What was your worst memory from drinking?
After moving back from Kentucky he was living with his Mom for a couple of months. She came into his room asking if he was going to work and she screamed after discovering a puddle in the middle of his room. She blamed it on Buster the cat but he was sure it was from him.
Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment?
Probably the look on Buster’s face.
What’s your plan moving forward?
Staying involved with the CaféRE community and creating those relationships. Going to Nashville. Getting out of his comfort zone.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)?
Get some sober friends.
You might be an alcoholic if...
You pee on the floor in the middle of the night and blame it on your cat.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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“We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up, we can do this!”
