Tom Gustin

Blackout drinker, out of control. It's said that to be an effective liar, you have to have a great memory. Blackout drinkers like me have a tendency to fail abysmally at that. Caught in a web of my own lies.

I was given the gift of desperation, wanting to take my own life on the morning of my last hangover, I picked up the phone instead and called a guy with 7 years sobriety that I'd previously partied with for many years. The first meeting set me on a course of change for every aspect of my life. I found the solution in a sponsor, a homegroup and 5 literature meetings a week.

Today I am free of the bondage of self, to the extent that I surrender, live the 3rd Step prayer and the Formula: "Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity." I still need all 5 literature meetings, the 2 homegroups I have, and the constant means to enlarge my spiritual life away from the tables of AA.