The book is available on Amazon – check it out here: Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down: 50 Things Every Alcoholic & Addict in Early Recovery Should Know - By Georgia W.
Drawing on my own experience and that of others in recovery, this book highlights fifty things that all of us should know once we’ve decided to treat our addiction. Some of the topics included are:
The First 30 Days – What to expect and how to get through it.
Things to Avoid – Protecting your recovery and coping with stress.
Dry Drunk – How not to be one.
Relapse –Developing a prevention plan and what to do if it happens.
Spouses & Partners – How to include them and rebuild relationships.
Children – It’s never too late to be a good parent or role model.
Dating in Early Recovery – The not so good, the bad and the ugly.
Twelve Step Programs – How they work and what you should know.
Isolating – Why we do it and why we shouldn’t.
Substituting and Fixing – Things we substitute for our addiction.
Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter how you got to this point in your life – the most important part is that you did. Too many alcoholics and addicts die from this disease before they get a chance to recover. Just remember that you don’t have to do it alone. There are people who want to help, those who have been to the bottom and back and are now living a life without drugs and alcohol. All you need to have is the willingness to follow some simple suggestions that have worked for many others and can work for you too.
Burke the Jerk
February 10, 2009 at 7:37 am
Great Blog, I’ve enjoyed your posts and you even wrote a book…nice job! Recovery is awesome and people need to know that using isn’t necessary and we’re all capable of being clean and happy simultaneously.
When you have time please visit http://www.burkethejerk.com, another blog about recovery!
earlyrecovery
February 10, 2009 at 8:49 am
Thanks Brad and you are so right, we do need to let people know that being clean and sober does not equal boring and glum. Love your site, keep spreading the word
Paul
August 21, 2009 at 5:54 am
I too enjoy your insight. This life is about MOMENTS and making each one in awareness. I think you help to perpetuate that message too. Thank you. Recovery can be beautiful if you have your head up looking.
Paul
Pete
September 8, 2009 at 10:30 am
I bow to your writing skills.
And your solid understanding of the
step work.
Pete.
Chaz
October 27, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Ditto…. it matters less how we got here. The fact is we are here and here is where we need to start. Great advice for the newcomer. Was when I was a newcomer for sure.
Counselors (non-recovery background) always wanted to help me dig into my past and fix what had happened… or come to grips with it… or something like that.
This is not wront, it is just out of sequence for most of us alcoholics and addicts.
A big part of our problem is that we simply suck at today. Inviting an alcoholic to ruminate on the past is like…. well… it is an open invitation to live in thoughts, ideas, memories, resentments, and pain.
I didnt find sobriety and the beginnings of recovery until I started dealing with my todays. My here and nows. First of by staying sober. Then by using my todays more productively.
It was a long time before I could ever meaningfully start looking at past with any kind of healty, productive perspective.
Gladly though, the day eventually came and I was able to deal with much of it and accept the rest.
Good on you for keeping the newcomer front and centre. It is a wild place to be… but we are all there at some point.
Ciao.
Chaz
Georgia W.
October 28, 2009 at 3:20 pm
‘we simply suck at today’ – great stuff Chaz lol
kelly
November 7, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Young people come from around the world come to our community of a capacity of 215 where we celebrate recovery at beach meetings every Sunday morning at 9:30am Sober Living by the Sea in Newport Beach Ca.
mike
December 7, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Thanks for the post.
I had a heck of time letting my buds know that being sober is actually a great way to live life. Not that they have to do it…but it works for me…and I don’t get drunk angry and disappear on them any more.
They certainly appreciate not having to worry about me any more
Rachel Bee
December 29, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I’m with Pete…it’s so nice to read a recovery blog written by someone who can, well, actually WRITE!
I’m very intrigued about this book you speak of (love the cover, too!): you might have mentioned this already, but who is the publisher? Is it some sort of independent recovery press? I have a friend who just checked himself into some fancy, holistic drug rehab and seems altogether baffled by the program. He doesn’t have internet access right now, so I couldn’t point him in the direction of your blog, but I know he’d get a kick out of the book.
Thanks for your insight!
Georgia W.
January 5, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Thanks for your note! The publisher is Ornery Tiger Press and the book can be ordered through Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
Dan
April 29, 2010 at 3:35 am
Hi there
I am a newcomer in the sober world. I am 36 and only admitted two days ago that alcohol is controlling me and that I need to get sober and clean RIGHT NOW. I had my last drink some time Monday morning early hours – I cannot remember when where and what it was and I only recovered from my blackout when I was lying on the tar road full of blood with a couple of guys kicking and hitting me. I still dont know what I did to provoke them, but that does not really matter anymore.
All that matters to me know is that I’ve finally admitted my addiction and that it is destroying my life. It’s been destroying my life for over 20 years and I want to feel how it feels to live life without a hungover!
So, I am definitely going to check out the book and I will keep an eye out on this blog -> I already read some of the posts and I already feel better about myself! I have my first AA meeting tonight and although I am scared and nervous I know I will make it.
Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge with other people in need.
Cheers
Georgia W.
April 29, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Hi Dan,
Thanks so much for getting in touch and congratulations on your sobriety! I’ve sent a reply to the email address on your post.
Talk to you soon.
Zach Gamble
September 25, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Hi Dan,
I’m right now were you were over a year ago.
If you are still hanging in there clean ‘n sober, let me know how it is going and what you did that first couple of days, weeks, months, etc.
Thanks.
So-and-so
April 29, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Hi! You have a very nice recovery site, here
I’m taking a poll and would be interested in your feedback: Is internet addiction real?
http://stark-raving-sober.blogspot.com/2010/04/is-internet-addiction-real.html
Would you be interested in submitting the poll for feedback from your readers?
Also, I recently started my anonymous blog and would like to know if I can add you to my blogroll, here:
http://stark-raving-sober.blogspot.com
Have a blessed day,
So-and-so
Georgia W.
April 29, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Ho So-and-so,
I think internet addiction is as real as any addiction that we engage in to change the way we feel, just like gambling, porn and sex. I think it is apparent just by the sheer number of people who are online, people who rack up hours on the internet looking at porn or gambling or thinking that everything they feel, say or do is worthy of Twittering or sticking on Facebook for all to see. Kid’s are committing suicide over things that are being said on these sights, people are being stalked by sexual predators who are doing nothing but cruising sites to get a fix. So yes, I guess I think it’s real!
So-and-so
April 30, 2010 at 6:35 am
Thanks, Georgia!
So-and-so
May 11, 2010 at 11:22 am
Just wanted to check in and let you know that 67% of respondents believe that internet addiction is real:
http://stark-raving-sober.blogspot.com/2010/05/christian-women-porn-addiction-guru.html
5% do not and 28% voted “maybe.”
Thanks for participating!
OmahaDad
May 21, 2010 at 10:42 am
Great blog, Georgia. Keep the nuggets coming. I’ll definitely check out your book. Seven days since admitting to myself that I am an alcoholic, I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ve had my last drink and am taking the steps to develop a sober lifestyle (professional therapy, treatment, AA). I’m fortunate to have a lot of people supporting me in my journey into sobriety, but have learned the hard way that many of my friends now view me with suspicion. Ironic that recognizing my addiction, which I found to be liberating, seems to cause many of my acquaintances to trust me less than when I was simply a “drunk”.
Georgia W.
May 22, 2010 at 9:58 am
Congratulations on making the leap from drunk to recovering drunk! Don’t worry about suspicious friends, they will come around to the idea that you mean business as you stay sober. Maybe some of your suspicious acquaintances are drinking buddies by chance?
OmahaDad
May 22, 2010 at 12:25 pm
How’d you guess?
Although, to be fair, recently I’ve done most of my drinking secretly in the garage, and many of my “drinking buddies” probably wrote me off as a lost cause several months ago. I was probably also not nearly as much fun to hang out with as I thought I was.
Thank God that I have people who care about me and stuck with me. When I feel the urge to drink, I repeat the line from The Big Book, “For us, to drink is to die.” Knowing how much I have to live for helps give me strength to push the voice in my head back into submission, at least for a time.
I ordered your book from Amazon, btw. I’m really enjoying reading it, and am finding many of your experiences and insights very helpful.
I mentioned to my counselor in recovery therapy that I seem to find the things to encourage me to remain sober just when I need them most. She told me those are called “God’s Wings”. I consider this blog and your book among my God’s Wings. Thank you.
Lauren L
June 3, 2010 at 12:44 pm
This is a great website! Please add me to the list! Great stuff you have on here. Come visit me at:
http://www.rainbowrecoveryclub.org/author/laurenl
I can’t wait to read more from you!
Heather
September 25, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I love it! Buying it in the morning!
Georgia W.
September 30, 2010 at 2:59 am
thanks!
The Easier Softer Way
May 17, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Hey, been reading your blog for a few weeks now. Love it! Keep it up, I like where you have taken it, and that book sounds awesome! So many good books to read, so little time!
jbwritergirl
August 4, 2011 at 6:08 am
Always great to hear that recovery is working.
tommy
August 10, 2011 at 3:21 pm
this is an awesome site! some strong sobriety i see and great wisdoms. please check out my girlfriends site undertheinfluenceofgrace.com please show some love and check it out its a great site with a ton of heart!
Jeff
September 12, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Nice share on your blog. My name is Jeff and I am an alcoholic and an addict. Today is AGAIN my day one in sobriety. I have been going to AA since last October, but really have not been able to maintain any sobriety beyond two weeks. But I will not give up. And as I was greatful to the recycle man for being late the other day, i dug my big book out of the paper recycle. It was bearied in the bottom from a drunken runner a few days ago. It was hard to watch all the 9-11 stuff this weekend. Ten years ago I thought 9-11-01 was going to be my day one then too….. jrromy@yahoo.com
Georgia W.
September 19, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for reading and posting a comment and well done. I hope you are hanging in there, the beginning is rough, especially if we have been back at the beginning many times. I have a fridge magnet that quotes Winston Churchill and it says “Never Never Never Never Give Up” its been on my fridge since early sobriety and I still look at it every day and think about how it helped me every morning when I needed it. It takes some of us longer than others to ‘get this,’ I was one of those people who tried over and over, and I’m grateful that I didn’t die while I was still trying to figure it out because sadly a lot of people do. I don’t want to be a downer but this is the truth.Keep working at your recovery Jeff, don’t give up and and good luck to you.
Jeff
September 19, 2011 at 8:56 pm
In a meeting about a year ago a guy raises his hand and says he will be a sponsor. After the meeting I ask him as he appears to have something that I want. 1. stable sobriety, 2. he is happy in this sobriety. So he gives me his phone number and I start calling him. A year later, and many many relapses later he still has not told me how to work these steps. He never asks anything of me and only listens. I have to believe that this is not what sponsorship is and although he still appears to have what I want i am wondering if he is ever going to share it. Am I wrong to be annoyed? I feel like he does not see me as a worth while prospect.
Jeff from Wisconsin
Georgia W.
September 20, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Hi Jeff,
I can’t comment on what your sponsor is doing, but it is possible he does not think you are done yet, however, he is still taking the time to be a friend to you and listen until hopefully the time comes when you are done. If it were me I would stay sober for 30 days – in that time go to meetings, read the book, talk with others who have long term sobriety – and then ask your ‘friend’ to start being your sponsor and take you through the steps, if he won’t do it then, find someone who will.
You are a person, not a prospect! I was told if I could stay sober for 30 days I could start on the steps. I needed time for my head to clear because each time I drank again, the more my head was full of the “chatter” of my disease, telling me the world had done me wrong and things like maybe I wasn’t a good enough prospect…
Best of luck to you,
-Georgia