My name is Irvin, and I am a recovering alcoholic. Everybody around me such as family, friends and co-workers were so worried about my addiction lifestyle. Therefore one night when I overdosed on an opioid and went to the hospital ward, That night became the crucial point in my life. When I woke up my parents met me in the hospital. I had so much remorse that I said to my dad I want to change my life .I don’t want to ruin more of my life because of drugs or drinking. Therefore the doctor referred me to a rehabilitation facility. I never knew in my life what the meaning of “sobriety”. All I knew was drugs, drugs and drugs. You know, I felt powerless over drinking or drugging and I finally gave up after the battle of life and death. My life became hopeless, I seemed to be helpless and useless. Even a single hope to change life was not left in my mind before overdose. Therefore when I went to the treatment centre I chose to get out of denial. For me denial was not accepting that i have a drinking or drugging problem. But one of my friends at the treatment centre introduced me to a person whose name was Jeff and he was an addiction counsellor. He made me realise that which part of my addiction had positive consequences. For one moment, I understood that I had a problem.when i went to the treatment centre and i realised how much emotional and mental pain my parents had gone through for my addiction issues. I decided not to ruin my life no more. This was the beginning stage of my recovery and sobriety when I realised the destruction caused by my addiction. Therefore I made a decision to fully surrender myself to my addiction issues.

For the first few days staying sober and getting involved with sober friends were hard. But after that when I had no hangover, no drug related worries and no new problems were created by me, my life became valuable and precious to me . I realised at the treatment centre that why i ended up here. Why not ? other people ended up at the treatment centre, therefore i admitted i am an alcoholic !! .That was the point where my journey of life started and I stayed sober with the help of fellowship. For me, staying sober is a gift of god and working on 12 steps is a gift of the program which made my life easier and smoother today.

However for me, I finally gave up on drugs and the efforts made became the real work which kept me sober since today. You know, I never knew that life could be changed and I would be able to get out of my painful addiction behaviour. When I did the very first step, “I Admitted I was powerless over alcohol and my life had become unmanageable”. This step became true for me. However my life was unmanageable in certain perspectives such as relationships, financial and discipline was the one thing which i was missing in my life. I became willing to change myself and willingness was the key to my sobriety. Today I always do things I have been told to do such as getting involved in meetings, doing personal inventory on a consistent basis and connection with the fellowship is the most crucial part of my sobriety. When I found out other people suffering from the same disease of alcoholism , I understood that I am not the only one who has an addiction issue. However when I fully understood the 12th step it became a great opportunity for me which kept me sober. Recovering alcoholics or the suffering alcoholics today are the part of my sobriety with whom I can share my experience, strength and hope. All I can say I am sober today and helping newcomers to the program is the keypoint of my sobriety.

I never knew that sobriety is progressive like my addiction was . You know, today walking through the journey of AA is making my problems not complicated, but simple too. However I will never forget the connection which I built up through the treatment centre. My treatment friends are the true friends who always help me to stay sober . For this turning point of my life I am so grateful and will never give back. My life today is way better than it was during my addiction when I used to beg for even a few dollars from my friends or co-workers. Sobriety for me is the first priority to my life. At the end, I pray to god that I help all those people who are suffering like me from this disease of alcoholism so that they can enjoy their lives in a wonderful manner. Today I celebrate the emotions, feelings of my family and they are happy too that I became sober. All the things I have achieved today such as family, job and relationships are because of that overdose night. If that night would have not come, I might be suffering through pain of drugs or might be dead. Thank god for that wonderful turning stage of my life.