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Today we have Cricket. She is 40 years old, lives in Chattanooga, TN, and she took her last drink on July 27th, 2022.
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[02:32] Thoughts from Paul:
Paul shares with us that one of the hardest things for him while doing the RE podcast is focus on his side of the street. This means not directing anger, frustration outwards towards things like big alcohol, big pharma, etc. We think modern society is how we’re supposed to live, but it’s mentally, physically and biologically destroying us and even the animals and nature around us.
What do we do to focus more on our side of the street? You’re already doing something about this by making the decision to stop poisoning yourself with alcohol. The next step is to come together as a community. Come closer to your fellow human beings.
The addiction tries to trick you into believing you are alone, but you are not. Come see us in Café RE, go to a 12-step meeting, keep listening. You’re not alone.
[09:15] Paul introduces Cricket:
Cricket is 40 years old, lives in Chattanooga, TN with her cats and works in a restaurant downtown. She enjoys reading and writing and loves good TV shows.
Cricket says her drinking was problematic from the start. She was at a party while her mother and sister were out of town and ended up blacking out and acting crazy. The partygoers handcuffed Cricket and took her to the police where she was placed in state custody until her mom could get her out.
In college, Cricket was overwhelmed at the idea of being an adult with all the new people, so she turned to alcohol because it helped her feel brave and popular. When school began to get in the way of how Cricket wanted to drink, she dropped out.
Cricket got married young to a man she met on campus. He was a big partier and enabled her drinking and drug use. Her drinking progressed, she and her husband began to have legal troubles, and Cricket would get so out of control that friends and family would drop her off at the psychiatric hospital because they didn’t know what else to do.
Cricket would quit drinking for a week or so but would start right back. The voice inside began telling her this isn’t how she wanted to live. She tried moderation, tried going to rehab and tried Antabuse.
When she was 27, Cricket’s mother checked her into rehab. She stayed sober for three months before thinking she could moderate again. She got a DUI but still tried to keep alcohol in her life. Around age 30 was when Cricket realized it was the alcohol that was making her life so difficult.
Cricket was 33 when she moved to Chattanooga after her second divorce. The drinking and the consequences of it continued for her. One night in July 2022, Cricket looked at the beer in her hand and just decided she didn’t want this life anymore.
The biggest shift this time was that the idea did not come from anyone else, it was Cricket coming to this conclusion on her own. She acknowledged that moderation did not work and she needed to stop completely.
Cricket says she relied on two things when she first quit – one day at a time and playing the tape forward. Focusing on the present moment was how she realized that she could do this. She says it reduces her fear of the future and kept her from being so focused on the past.
Cricket is grateful for her sobriety as she navigates life and the grief and emotions that come with it. She recognizes now that she does not need alcohol to survive the hard times.
Cricket’s parting pieces of guidance: Trust the process and take it one day at a time.
Recovery Elevator
You took the elevator down.
You got to take the stairs back up.
We can do this.
