Friday 31 October 2014

Infected Minds (Like Mine) Entry #31

They say alcoholism is a disease. I believe that to the fullest. Some may argue and feel that it's just a matter of self control or the "Lack" of self control that we as alcoholics are suppose to have. Many alcoholics believe that alcoholism is an incurable disease that effects the mind. Like every other incurable disease alcoholism needs to be treated as well as monitored through the various channels available to us. If alcoholism was a simple matter of a lack of will power and self control, then there wouldn’t be millions of people like myself who choose not to drink a substance that is legal and readily available to the public such as alcohol. Then I wouldn't be able to work in a club environment as well as being around friends that like to have a few (A lot) drinks on occasions. I wouldn't be able to say that I am rounding off my 5th year alcohol free or the millions of others who have 10, 20 even 50 years of sobriety under their belts. With all the ways people use alcohol to cope with problems as well as celebrating the good and positive times, there's no way that anybody can say that we have no self control. At least we have a grip on the alcohol versus dying department. If I was to ingest alcohol the disease would begin to take effect. It's not like I would hulk out and turn green. Or get aggressive because I was never an angry drunk to begin with. Matter of fact, I would probably be the life of the party. And everyone around me would get just as wrecked as me and I would end up waking up with a hang over next some attractive (Or not) woman with stale liquor breath and an ever so slight but present smell of vomit. After that crazy episode I would probably be ashamed of myself and beat myself up asking myself how could I have destroyed all the accumulated years of sobriety. I'd probably be pretty tore up about it and not drink the next day for sure. I might not drink the day after that maybe even a week after that, all out of repent. But then, that voice will creep. That voice in every alcoholic's mind that is activated by the taste and the feeling alcohol brings. That voice will get louder until I eventually end up on a binge that can last for years before either awakening or straight to an early death. This does not happen to people who are not infected by the disease of alcoholism. In the previously mentioned scenario, the non alcoholic would have the same night but without the voice activating in his head. The chemicals of the alcohol would not react in his or her body that would eventually effect his or her mind even when not inebriated. He or she can make that a routine every weekend without ever risking it turning to a never ending everyday binge. That's the difference! With that being said, I have to always be mindful of my actions as well as my surroundings and how I conduct myself. I have to make sure that if I drink a non-alcohol beverage and I put it down, that I don't accidentally pick up a glass with alcohol in it. That mistaken sip can be detrimental and life changing. On that note I have made sure that no one ever tries to spitefully hand me a glass with liquor in it knowing I have a disease. Or someone handing me a drink with alcohol with all positive intentions who just honestly is unaware of the severity of my disease. As a single man I have to keep in mind that when I meet new women going for drinks is a different experience. Only one of us is drinking on that date and it ain't me. It doesn't mean that I'm not a good time or I need liquid personality. In these situations I can't fall victim to thinking that drinking with my date will make me more attractive to her. It creates a weeding out process where any woman who tries to make me drink is automatically cut off. As far as the women who don't like the fact that I don’t drink, won't even want to go on date one with me. In the end of the day I don't want the infected minds that we have influence the way we are treated. We're not contagious. You won’t catch alcoholism if you get too drunk in front of an alcoholic. We don't have a visual disease. We don't have lesions or have facial ticks. Our disease does not make us deteriorate over time as long as we don't feed it with alcohol. As previously mentioned, our disease is one of the mind. However it's that same mind that we use to make sure that we stay in control of this infamous and deadly disease. Bless

Friday 18 July 2014

ADDICT!! Entry #30

So as most people who follow this blog know by now that this is history and the accounts of my alcoholic life and my inner thoughts and feelings before and after sobriety. What qualifies me as an alcoholic? Well how about the fact that i used to drink a bottle of vodka 7 days a week 365 days a year and more on holidays. Or for the fact that I hated getting sick because I didn’t want to take the medicines, this was because either the physician or the warning label would advise against mixing the medicine with alcohol. It took me 20 years (1 in jail) to turn that corner to the road to sobriety. Even though I’m into my fifth year of sobriety I was and am still addicted to many things. Like Character Defects(See Entry #28), these addictions don’t just magically disappear because I stopped drinking alcohol. Old habits are hard to break and each addiction is individual and should be respected with it’s own time if one decides that they are going to battle them. I’ve been addicted and still am addicted to many things. I really can’t run them all down or I would need to write a blog series on that alone. However this blog is about honesty so let’s list off a few. SEX Ok so now that you’re awake again. Sex has always been one of my biggest addictions. I have had a long series of botched relationships due to the fact that I can be a naughty man, and really, I don’t need alcohol to influence my decision to cheat. The share thrill, enjoyment of variety and the all around pigness that is man is what has me single in this time of my life right now. I’ve cheated on every girlfriend I’ve ever had and had my share of wild adventures sober and drunk. An addiction to sex can be a combination of a high libido, will for acceptance as well as a lack of integrity and/or good judgment at times. This is all besides the fact of not being happy or satisfied in my past relationships enough not to cheat. We don’t even have to mention the porn. On the contrary though I don’t believe in the clinical diagnosis of being a sex addict. I personally won’t go do something crazy if I can’t get sex and anyone who does is just hornier than usual to me. However they don’t need to rehab to fix their “problem” they just need some more self control like most of us. DRAMA I have ben told that I’m addicted to drama many times. I don’t feel that I am but when you hear something enough times you tend to believe it after a while too, even a little bit. I’ve had my share of drama with the law and with my past relationships. I’ve been stabbed by a woman, slapped, punched, cursed out and mentally tormented by women. I have had fake Facebook, Myspace and High5 accounts made about me by scorned exes all for cheating (Of course), oh ya, and lying too(Can’t forget that.) I’ve had women confronting each other many times all because of the webs of lies that I have spun. The reason I guess that I’m becoming a believer is because no matter how many times it happens I always find myself repeating the exact same actions and getting the EXACT same results. Therefore I must have some addiction to drama even is it’s sub and/or unconsciously. Some of the dramas like legal issues are some of the drama that I am definitely not addicted to but through my parole and after I have walked the fine the line of legality a number of times. Drama is another release of endorphins, the type that the thrill seekers like. Lately I’ve been pretty good at staying out of drama or “di blenda” like my lovely hood folks call it. However who knows what can happen the next time I find myself TOO bored. Material Things (Cars, Clothes and Shinny Things) I am what you call an impulse buyer. I see, I like, I buy it. I hustled for 17 years before I turned my life around and over those years I’ve picked up the easy come easy go habits. I developed a fancy for the finer things. I like designer and name brand clothes, I like European cars and trucks and I like gold and diamonds. I also feel that I shouldn’t feel guilty about that because if your working hard for your money and/or out there taking those risk that the hustlers do to make big money, then shit! You deserve that shit! Buy that Gucci bag mama! Go get the newest Jordan's, Benz and Ice my dude! However, make sure that it’s within your means. Material things can be seen as an addiction. We all know about maxing out our credit cards because we just HAVE to have those new shoes. Physical Appearance I have always gone up and down with my weight from the time I turned 25. Prior to that I was always overweight. Though it never stopped me from meeting women over the years, I still didn’t like who I saw in the mirror. I have recently lost around 50 pounds, once again. The reason I say once again is because this is actually the fourth time that I have done this. The 3 times prior I had always put back on the weight and hated myself for it. Especially with all the hard work that it takes to loose that much weight, along with the fact that it can’t be good for my heart after a while going up and down so much. Now that I’m on my 4th go around I did it the best this time I have achieved under 10% body fat I got my six pack like I promised myself and my eating regiment is on point. However now I am addicted to looking this way. I obsess about my eating and base my daily schedule according to my meals as well as duties. I constantly check the mirror for signs of fat forming and I check the scale at the gym almost every day. At this point the only weight that is gained is water weight which comes and goes from hour to hour and is barely retained since I cook sodium free ALL THE TIME. Oh ya, did I mention that I always go to the gym every morning 6 days a week? Well yes, that’s happening too. So in conclusion whether your major addiction was alcohol like myself and millions of alcoholics. Or your major addiction was cocaine or ecstasy or any of the other wonderful substances out there that make so many lives fun and miserable at the same time.One thing that is clear for me and I'm confident in saying many others, is that kicking one major addiction doesn’t mean our jobs are done. There are many addictions we have to conquered some big some small. In addition sometimes conquered addictions can be replaced with other newer addictions or old ones that have elevated to fill the void that was once filled with the conquered major addiction. Therefore I feel I always need to stay conscious of my moves and the mental baggage that I might pick up along my road to progression. Eventually if those bags filled with other addictions get to heavy then progression will come to a halt. Then my former alcohol addiction will be the least of my problems. Bless

Friday 2 May 2014

Entry #29 The Sober Emcee vs. The Dry Alcoholic

So the true tesr now begins. I am now officially off of parole and by law I am now allowed to drink. I have been doing this blog for about 3 years now and the whole time I was not allowed to drink in accordance to my parole conditions as well as a life choice. However now that I am legally I am allowed to drink this is where the real test now lies. I always said that even if it wasn’t a parole condition I still wouldn’t drink, now that it’s a reality it’s time to see if I am really the Sober Emcee or just a dry alcoholic. A dry alcoholic is someone who has tried to quit drinking but has not really followed the 12 steps, never got a sponsor or a home group but just stayed a way from drinking for whatever reasons. Most of the time these reasons are legal ones and they have not set up the proper emergency plans for if in case they really get the urge to pick up a bottle.The reason that they are just considered “Dry” is because it is believed that they might not have stopped drinking for the right reasons and given extenuating circumstances or with legal boundaries removed that this dry alcoholic would go back to drinking right away. I wondered to myself, do I fall under this category? Sure I have done a lot over the past 4 years of sobriety and have been told that I have inspired a lot of people. Yes I am an advocate of marijuana consumption and even consume it myself. I believe that there has been way less lives accept because a family member smoked weed as opposed to the millions and millions of families who suffer each year from a member’s alcohol abuse. Not to mention the amount of alcohol and (Chemical) drug related deaths that happen per year. Either way now I have the freedom to do what ever I want (As long as it’s legal) and have to really exercise the “choice” not to drink alcohol. I have been a club emcee for a considerable amount of my time on parole and have done that and numerous live performances in a club with people drinking alcohol all around me. I have hung out with friends as they consumed heavy amounts of alcohol in celebration. I have to always keep in mind that I would not be able to have the things I have now if I had continued to drink. I have to remember now that if I pick up a drink that I would probably go on a binge tha may never end. That means; no more job, now more apartment, back to hustling and most importantly not being able to take care of my mother anymore in her Golden years. What non-alcoholics don’t realize that it is all or nothing for the population who has the disease of alcoholism. We can’t just “Have a few” then stop. We can’t just drink on the weekends and maintain control of our lives. When an alcoholic like myself picks up a drink a chemical reaction happens that effects us mentally. This reaction causes us to know no limits and continue drink until we pass out or end the night in some strange bed or jail! We destroy families and relationships way more than the average person and chaos follows us when the bottle is in hand. We will never be “Cured” and be able to drink like normal people. What we have to live with is acceptance that we have this disease. This is why I have never tried to judge anyone who drinks because in all actuality people can really have a good time when there’s alcohol involved. Therefore I encourage people to drink and be merry and I date women who drink a little...or a lot. We take everyday in 24 hours time rather than try to tell our future of never drinking again but we know that we can’t. We have to be prepared for the obsticles should they come and have the proper buffers, people and prevention methods to stop us from taking that potiential fatale step of drinking. I believe that knowing this is what makes me the Sober Emcee so if you’re in the club that I’m working or performing in, have a drink on me and have a crazy night. And if you are one of the people with the alcoholism disease like myself who choose not to drink alcohol for life, then have a happy 24(Hours). Bless

Sunday 2 March 2014

Character Defects Entry #28

We all have defects of character. Mine have been; lying, infidelity, tunnel vision, indecisiveness and selfishness just to name a few. I always thought that without alcohol things would be perfect and as a person I would be some sort of superman. However a lot of the defects that I have still remain and they are things that need to be worked on individually in order for me to become a better person. When I delve deeper into myself I realized that things may have been advanced when I was drunk or I can use being drunk for an excuse when I exhibited these defects but what now? Over the past 4 years of sobriety I still lied, I still didn’t use good judgment in things I did in my relationships, still have tunnel vision and am still very selfish. I can’t beat myself up though because we are forever evolving and making these realizations are the first step in correcting them just like when I had to admit I was an alcoholic. I also had to look at all my accomplishments and be proud of myself. For the first time ever I worked for someone besides myself and I’ve held my job for 2 years. I was finally able to focus my energy and make my first full length album of which I’m very proud of.Mistakes were still around every corner though and I did things in relationships to shatter the trust and I blame myself for that. I found myself lying again and I became very indecisive on the future. Ultimately being sober didn’t make me perfect and truly no one can ever be perfect that’s God’s job. While talking with my sponsor I realized that my evolution and maturity stopped over the past 2 years. I accomplished so much on a material and superficial level that I totally ignored my inner growth. I hurt people in a lot of ways that are un-repairable. One of my defects that can be mistaken as a trait is my sociability and the ability to bring the best out of people. Don’t get me wrong, these are good traits. However when there is a lack of humility and lies, it can be a lethal mixer, especially since I’m aware of the power it can hold. This can make people put their guards down easily and if you betray then it can and will bring out the worst in them. This made me realize that I didn’t have control of my thoughts and emotions which is another character defect. I also learned that in sobriety my character defects actually grew because my focus was on alcohol in the past and not my inner self. When your drunk you never truly face yourself because alcohol takes the focus. Without it though I have to face my problems and tackle them rather than run away from them. I’m working on it though. I made it 4 years sober, the end of my parole is right around the corner and I plan to right my wrongs and learn even more about myself post parole. I have tried to be more attentive to others around me and not be so self centered. I have been trying to do even more for my mother with her illness to make sure that she is okay. And also I have been reconnecting with myself physically and taking care of my body by eating right and working out again. There is always more though and every once and a while I need to step back and do a moral inventory on myself to see if I’m being the best I can be to myself and the people around me. Evolution never ends and when you feel that you have made yourself the best you can be that is where you fail and start slipping because no matter what there is always room for improvement. Bless