No Lightning Bolt, No Burning Bush

During my first three weeks of sobriety, I felt extraordinarily irritable, frustrated and angry. I remember yelling at my kids, stomping around the house and feeling decidedly unsettled; I was getting worse, not better. So, while crying angry tears, I picked up the phone and called my sponsor. Suzie had a matter-of-fact way of making suggestions; she asked me if I had “asked out loud.” I replied that I had not. In fact, I had no idea what she meant. She clarified: Had I asked out loud for the desire to drink to be relieved? Of course I had not. Suzie was never forceful—only suggestive. She told me that I “ought” to ask out loud for the desire to drink to be relieved.