RECOVERY STORY OF THE MONTH

 My name is Zach S. and I’m an alcoholic. My sobriety date is 2/1/16. My drinking began early. What started with weekend partying quickly became an everyday thing. It became more important than anything else in my life. Alcohol and drugs controlled every decision I made in my life.

In 2012 I was 21 years old when I had my first trip to the Keating Center. For the next four years I bounced in and out of the Rock. I was never able to put together more than a few months, sometimes days, of sobriety. I treated it like a flop house. A place where I could hang out with my buddies, get some food, a shower and plot my next run. I took up a seat in meetings, cracked jokes with my buddies and socialized. I never worked steps or became an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

. . . takers eat well and givers sleep well.

My last time through the Rock, I was expecting my second child, and God saw fit for me to do something different. I got a real sponsor for the first time. I became enthusiastic to work some steps. For the first time, I put some work in and worked all 12 steps. I then became an active member. I made coffee, I picked guys up, I chaired and when the time came I sponsored. A good friend of mine says takers eat well and givers sleep well. I started to give back to the program instead of constantly taking.

All these years later I continue to do the same things I did at the Rock and in my early beginnings. I haven’t found a good enough reason to pick back up and that’s only because of AA, the 12 steps and my higher power. I do the things I don’t want to do, so I can do the things I want to do. Thank God for AA and also the Keating Center because without it I’d surely be dead.