NE In my delusional mind, I had reasoned if it didn’t work out, I’d just stop and the addiction brain told me, it would be easy and I could just flip a switch. How wine witch must have laughed and laughed because if she gets hold of you again, she’s holding tighter than ever before. Think trying to squeeze a genie back in a bottle and there I was, powerless yet again sitting in hell. This time it was all my own making. And I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to get out again. I was furious with myself, full of guilt and shame and regret that I’d ever gone there again. But I kept trying. I would have months of not drinking but I’d fall again and I knew I wasn’t sober (after all I knew how that freedom felt). It took me nearly four years to finally find the key . And the key was and always will be a connection. I found online modern recovery through The Luckiest Club sobriety support group and it was there I first met Susan Christina, a fellow Irish woman and the founder and fearless leader of what I call the Platinum sober space that is Hola Sober. Here with Susan and the leaders and all of my other strong, powerful, and brave sober sisters I have my friends, finally, come home. And here I’ll stay for I have found my tribe and my greatest wish and now gift was to hold out my hand and help other sober sisters along and as a host, Susan has given me the platform to do just that. I have turned my greatest regret into a tool that I can and will use again and again as a truth that is foreboding and real and if it stops just one woman from making the same mistake, I rest easy on my sober pillow. A funny thing happened after I shared this part of my journey in a sober meeting, the shame died, right there and then . And so, I can finally be at peace, I was one of the lucky ones, not everyone makes it back to this sacred space of second chances. The gift of sobriety is one to be cherished and nurtured above all else always and for me, connection always will be the oxygen it needs to not just survive but to thrive. THE STORY OF
LINDA REDMOND
"Relapse is not part of recovery BECAUSE the next drink might kill you
AND
I knew I had another drink in me but I did not know whether I had another recovery in me."
Linda Redmond
Lots of love Linda xxx
| AUGUST 2021 • HOLA SOBER |
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