One of my occasional forays into my own story …

Twenty-eight years ago today I drank alcohol for the last time. It was a six-pack of 16-ounce cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (not the puny 12-ouncers pictured), which I downed singlehandedly.

I had no particular plans to quit drinking as a New Year’s resolution. I had tried quitting once before in 1982, in the early fall, and then entered a phase where I wanted to see if I could drink in “moderation.” Of course, I could not. Like most alcoholics, once I had the first drink, I couldn’t stop. The trick is to not have that first drink.

I woke up on New Year’s Day, 1983, horribly hungover and lying in a pee-soaked bed. Both of these were all-too-common occurrences. So I said “enough.” I decided I never wanted to feel that way again, never want to be in that situation again.

I quit cold turkey that day. I never did a 12-step program or got any other kind of help. I don’t regret not doing AA, but I think I would have benefited and perhaps would still benefit, as I mentioned here, especially now that I understand the storytelling element of AA. I don’t give myself any special kind of credit for quitting on my own; I simply consider myself extremely fortunate that I was able to. I am also fortunate that I have very rarely been even remotely tempted to drink in the ensuing 28 years.

I like acknowledging my sobriety anniversary, but I’m not writing this to pat myself on the back. I’m writing it to share my story the way folks do in 12-step programs. Among the many benefits of this kind of storysharing, outlined in the wonderful book Spirituality of Imperfection, is this:

When newcomers to Alcoholics Anonymous become immersed in storytelling and storylistening, they begin to see the form and outline of a new map, which details where they are, and how they got there, and — most importantly — the way to get where they want to go. … Through the practice of hearing and telling stories, we discover and slowly learn to use a new “map,” a map that is more “right” because it is more useful for our purpose. … what happens in the remapping of storylistening and storytelling is that in telling our own story, we come to own the story that we tell.