Adult Children of Alcoholics - How To Be Happy

By Lisa A. Romano

When you are the adult child of an alcoholic or the product of being raised by one, you can't quite put your finger on what's wrong. All you know is you feel ill, inappropriate; like a misfit.

As we age, our ego has never learned to trust this place we call home, and so--ego grows.

So glad I found this place. I am looking forward to gaining comradery with like minded folks who are actively working on the 12 steps in order to over come their addiction with food. I am a new member of Overeaters Anonymous. I am working on step one. I am hoping to find others that are doing the same.

PEACE!

I am starting this journey of recovery and really need and want feedback.  I am seeing a councelor for the last 5 months.  Iʻve slipped up 2 times since.  

My entire family knows, including my 3 children.  Itʻs painful and scary.  My councelor keeps telling me that I am moving forward but that i need to surrender to my addiction instead of trying to beat it....iʻm not sure how to surrender and what that really means?  I admit i have a problem and i want to get better.  

What does it mean to surrender to my addiction?

I was given the gift of abstinence. I say a "gift" because it came about because I was scared. I thought I was dying; literally. I thought I had serious liver damage. I mean, I drank for 30 years. So I stopped. But it turned out to be diverticulitis. Still serious, but not life threatening. 

I was given the gift of physical sobriety. I did not have to work for it. I though I was dying; literally. I had been drinking for over thirty years and thought I had liver damage. It turned out to be something else. Not life threatening. But it still scared me straight.