Reprieve

MY LIFE before AA consisted of two basic things--despair and alcohol. I had realized for some time that my life was unmanageable, that I was lonely, and that I was sinking. I was caught in the quicksand of alcoholism, and had been for some time. I had given up hope of any kind of decent or sane existence, and had made a sort of unspoken decision to just drink myself to death. A home, self-respect, peace of mind, and physical and mental health were for other people, not for me.