>>>>>>Hi Mike.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>So now I am again in the position of needing to dig out of a hole.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>I'm really sorry to hear that. I know others have suggested this before, but perhaps it's time to take a really hard look at things and get some professional help.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks, Doug. I am going to be all right. Nothing dramatic is going to happen. And yes, I am going to get some kind of help. I haven't been doing a thing despite feeling the gloom descend on me again, not even going to meetings. I am not sure AA will ever work for me but I need to at least try. And then, as you say, there are the head shrinking pros.
>>>>
>>>>Mike, AA is not the only game in town, and for some people it's not the right game at all. I read a statistic some time ago that the real success rate of AA is about 5%. The success rate for people who do it cold turkey, is about 5%.
>>>>
>>>>Have you checked out these folks? http://alcoholism.about.com/od/smart/SMART_Recovery.htm
>>>>Or check this list: http://www.hellolocal.com/ypsearch.cfm?k=alcohol+support&location=Round+Lake%2C+Illinois&kid=10239&sub=local_99
>>>>
>>>>Of course, until you're really serious about it, ain't nuthin' gonna work.
>>>
>>>Thank you for the links. And you are right in your conclusion. It does no good for me to make vows because I have done that before, many times, and have always returned to the same place. So let's say I am ready to give it another honest shot.
>>>
>>>I am surprised at that 5% figure. It definitely doesn't always work but I know a pretty good number of people it has worked for. One striking thing is that they keep coming to meetings. There are people in my group who have been sober for 20, 30 years. They still attend regularly, daily in some cases. I'm sure part of it is the 12th step, which essentially says you will help others who still struggle, but I know from what some of them say that they never lose the fear of falling back into it.
>>>
>>>If I don't "see" you again before the end of the year, happy new year. May it be a great one for you and may the beautiful game continue bringing us both enjoyment. Baseball, too, LOL.
>>
>>Chance has I've just been reading Silas Marner Mike
>>
>>Here a quote
>>" Favourable Chance, I fancy, is the god of all men who follow their own devices instead of obeying a law they believe in. Let even a polished man of these days get into a position he is ashamed to avow, and his mind will be bent on all the possible issues that may deliver him from the calculable results of that position. Let him live outside his income, or shirk the resolute honest work that brings wages, and he will presently find himself dreaming of a possible benefactor, a possible simpleton who may be cajoled into using his interest, a possible state of mind in some possible person not yet forthcoming. Let him neglect the responsibilities of his office, and he will inevitably anchor himself on the chance that the thing left undone may turn out not to be of the supposed importance. "
>
>Cheerful ;-)
>
>Probably a lot of truth in it.

Read the book

He "sort of" does the right thing in the end.