Recovery elevator episode 417 you know there were a lot of dark times, but what's most important is that it's it's about the experience, but what's most important is about the hope and the recovery and that it's possible and that's that's the story I hope to share with everyone today.

Like this. Yeah, that should work. Mix down. Yeah, keep going. Yo, yo, mix down, three, four. Yo, yo, wiki wiki, mix down. There we go. Seven eight, wiki, wiki, mix down, highs in the house. I love it. Wiki, wiki, mix down. There we go. Three, four, wiki. Welcome to the recovery elevator podcast. My name is Paul

Churchill, and I'm excited to be here with you today listeners on today's podcast. We have Jenny. She's 36 years old from Hudson, Wisconsin and took her last drink on February 16th, 2020. Great job, Jenny. I want to give a shout out to our cafe Ari chat host. You all do an amazing job. Thank you. Speaking of cafe Ari, let's hear from my favorite resource on this journey, cafe Ari. When I decided I wanted to pursue an alcohol

free life, I knew I didn't want to do it alone. I joined cafe Ari almost immediately after I found it. And I was so surprised at the amount of grace, support, and love that was offered to me right away.

One of the things I quickly realized was that I had a lot in common with the people in this community. People all over the world with similar feelings and struggles that understood me.

Many matters in lining up with people that have the same goal in mind really helped me stay the course on my journey, especially when I came across bumps on the road.

When joining cafe Ari, you get 24 seven access to a group full of others whose priority it is to live an alcohol free life. These groups are captured under 400 members to ensure quality connection.

In cafe Ari, you'll find that quitting drinking can be fun. For $24 a month, you get access to the community, you get paired with an accountability partner if you request to be matched, you can attend educational online webinars, attend in-person meetups, participate in book club, movie club, and more.

You'll also get discounts to retreats and sober travel trips. 10% of monthly fees goes towards our service project where we work with a nonprofit helping those who have been affected by addiction.

Go to recoveryelevator.com and use a promo code opportunity to wave the set up fee. Again, use a promo code opportunity to wave the set up fee. I can't wait to meet you there.

Okay, let's get started. Listeners, today I'm going to cover the best and worst place to be with a drinking problem. In just, I could say, the best place with a drinking problem is to not have a drinking problem in the first place. In fact, that's tempting to explore and sometimes I do in my mind.

But the other night, before going to bed, while my finger was on the light switch in my office, I paused for a moment while looking at my office setup before turning off the light.

I thought how proud my 12-year-old self would be. I looked at my office and I saw a microphone. There are two ukuleles hanging on the wall. I teach sober ukulele lessons. I saw a full-size piano, a kick-ass moge synthesizer,

and a Lionel train set running all the way around my office. We're preparing for a sober travel trip to Costa Rica in April. In short, I wouldn't change a thing and I'm incredibly grateful for the life that alcohol has given me.

As I've said on this podcast many times before, an alcohol addiction or a drinking problem is an invitation for you to step into a more authentic, better way of living.

Alright, let's get back on track. For today's topic, the best and worst place for an alcoholic to be, I want to cover a paragraph that starts on the bottom of page 151 in the big book of AA, the big book of alcoholics anonymous.

I'm going to read the last part of the paragraph which is on the top of page 152. It says, he cannot picture life without alcohol.

Someday, he will be unable to imagine life either with or without alcohol. He then will know loneliness, such as few do. He will be at the jumping off place. He will wish for the end.

Okay listeners, this is the absolute worst place someone can be with a drinking problem and here is why.

First off, the emotional pain of that loneliness is intense. It feels like you're dying and part of you is.

I remember in 2007, I was pumping euros into a pay phone at 3 a.m. in Grenada, Spain having a panic attack trying to phone family and a physician in the USA. It was a rough night.

I knew I had to quit drinking, but I couldn't imagine a life without alcohol. Another reason why this is the worst place to be is that alcohol is no longer working for you. It's been ruined for you.

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