Alcoholic Punishment

Meat Grinder: A machine used to crush meat into small bits or particles between two hard surfaces; pulverize.

Drinking is a brutal exercise for a mature alcoholic. It's like being fed through a meat grinder with agonizing deliberation. We think that we're having fun and we're loath to give this punishment up. What is it that we are hanging onto, anyway? We're physically sick, emotionally demoralized, and spiritually bankrupt. We don't have any money or friends and our families can't stand us anymore. Our prospects are terrible and getting worse. Who in their right mind wants to leave that life behind? How are we going to fill our time now that we don't have this wonderful outlet for all of our energies? What are we going to do if we can't sit in front of the TV for hours on end, alone, enjoying our blackout?

It is very difficult for an alcoholic to quit drinking. It takes some practice -- it takes some repetitions. Our body craves the alcohol and our minds crave the release. We remember the good old days when the alcohol was still working, when the troubles weren't that bad. It's a slow poisoning, this alcoholism. The problems mount slowly, imperceptibly, until they become astonishingly large and amazingly hard to solve.

If you have stopped, stay stopped. If you haven't, stop now.