RE 499: Get Your Roll On

Today we have Kerri. She is 55 years old, lives in Redding, CA and took her last drink on March 2nd, 2022. Sponsors mentioned in this episode: [02:47] Thoughts from Paul: Prior to AA, alcoholism was considered a fatal disease. In less than 100 years, so much progress has been made in how alcoholism is viewed and treated. Now there is 100% a way out. We now know the most potent antidote to addiction is connection. And this looks like community, preferably one that contains a lot of laughter, which we have all heard is the best medicine. Paul shares with us that when he was crafting the recent Bozeman Retreat's itinerary, he spent a lot of time thinking about one of the activities he was considering: a Skee-Ball tournament. The retreat is already full of the standard heavy hitters of share groups, breathwork, etc. but he wanted to try something different. Check out the pictures of the event in the post today: RE on Instagram So, 100 years ago, it was shock therapy and isolation to cure alcoholism. Today it's Skee-Ball, laughter, and connection. [10:34] Kris introduces KMac: Kerri is 55 years old and lives in Redding, CA. She has two adult daughters and five grandchildren. She is married and they have two dogs. For fun, Kerri has recently gotten into ultrarunning. She works full time for RE/Café RE as the community manager and event coordinator. Kerri says she started drinking in high school and was a blackout drinker from the beginning. She and her first husband drank a lot during their marriage, and it escalated for Kerri after their divorce. Kerri became a teacher later in life, but her drinking caused her to lose multiple teaching jobs over the course of a few years. She was involved with her local AA group and had a sponsor during this time. She ended up joining Café RE and rather quickly, volunteered to help do the show notes for the podcast. Over time her involvement with RE evolved. Kerri had over a year alcohol free before the binge drinking returned. She had stopped counting days and recognized that it made it easier for her to drink. Currently days are very important to Kerri. As Kerri began working more for RE, she feels that it took away the community for her. She didn't feel comfortable sharing her struggles within the groups because of her role. Knowing that she couldn't recover alone, Kerri began to open up and have tough conversations with the RE team. She was at the point where she was feeling like she was never going to be able to quit and found herself, with the encouragement of others, making the decision to go to inpatient rehab. Kerri says that being The Hab was tough at first and a lot of the people there were younger than her. After finding a good counselor and therapist, she was able to finally start opening up and sharing. At the end of 60 days, it was recommended she continue, so she stayed an additional 30. After leaving she continued to do what she was doing while she was in rehab, which helps. She used to question why she drank like she did, but over time has decided it doesn't matter. Kerri says the biggest thing she has learned about herself is the importance of truly believing she is worthy. She is now able to recognize when she has feelings and being able to share them. She is more likely to ask for help when she needs it. To the listener that is experiencing their own version of pacing around the living room not wanting to drink, Kerri wants to remind them that it's not too late, this doesn't have to be who you are or the road that you go down, you are worth asking for help and there is a community out there that are willing to walk that path with you. Kerri's first episode: RE Episode 255 Recovery Elevator You're the only one that can do this, but you don't have to do it alone. Love you guys. Recovery Elevator YouTube Sobriety Tracker iTunes