Hello World!
Tough times don’t last, tough people do. – Robert Schuller
My name is Ciana ‘Ci’, and I am an alcoholic. I’ve struggled with addiction for most of my life. As a teenager I experimented with drugs and alcohol but was always able to stop using drugs without any significant withdrawals or impact. Alcohol on the other hand, was not so easy.
I’ve maintained sobriety in the past for long periods of time but always given in to ‘one drink’. For those of us suffering from addiction you know that one drink is too many, and one more is never enough. I wanted this time to be different, I needed this time to be different, because no matter how much I lied to myself and tried to lie to everyone else, I could see the effects in every aspect of my life.
So, I went to rehab! I started journaling as part of my daily routine in rehab. I kept thinking about something I heard there that really resonated with me. I watched a recording of Brene Brown who said, “One day you will tell your story of how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else’s survival guide.” I don’t know if this blog will become someone else’s survival guide or just my journal to reflect back on later, I will be stronger for it either way.
May you be sober and happy always! Ci
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Take Care of Me…Sincerely, Your Body
12.18.24 Self-care sounds like an easy enough daily task, right? During active addiction, and isolation it’s a huge task that I don’t want to do. I would tell myself that I didn’t see anyone so who cares. I felt accomplished for the day if I rolled out of bed early enough to brush my hair…
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Sober Sisterhood
12.17.24 As a newcomer to AA, walking into a meeting solo is intimidating. Add to it walking into a women’s meeting with independent, wives, mothers, and grandmothers is REALLY intimidating. You can’t bullshit a bullshitter or pull a fast one on someone with eyes in the back of their head. I kept thinking about how…
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Let’s Call Her “J”
12.16.24 Hearing the word ‘counseling’ makes my eyes automatically roll. I’ve tried it before but never stuck with it for more than a few sessions. I always told myself it was because the counselor just wasn’t the right person when in reality, I wasn’t willing at the time to give it a chance. I was…
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Tell Me Your Story
12.15.24 I love going to speaker meetings. In rehab we had lots of program alumni and guest speakers who came to share their experiences with us. Some of the stories really resonated with me but even if they didn’t, I always take away at least a few tidbits to remember when I need them. Anyone…