Overcoming Loneliness

Almost without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong.    As Bill Sees It, p. 90

The agonies and the void that I often felt inside occur less and less frequently in my life today. I have learned to cope with solitude. It is only when I am alone and calm that I am able to communicate with God, for He cannot reach me when I am in turmoil. It is good to maintain contact with God at all times, but it is absolutely essential that, when everything seems to go wrong, I maintain that con-tact through prayer and meditation.

From AA’s Daily Reflections for  11/17

I have been lonely all of my life.   The loneliest place in the world for me is in a large crowded noisy room.  I can’t get around and I can’t hear comprehend others due problems with tinnitus making it impossible for me to understand what they are saying.

Reasonable accommodations are for me to meet with people one-on-one in quieter places.   That means that I don’t hang out with a gang of friends.   Meeting with five others at Crossroads Mall on Wednesdays is invaluable in helping me learn how to socialize with others in a group.

Thanks to years of Alanon, my broken (relationship/friend) picker is not such a factor in my life these days.  However, it is definitely another case of progress not perfection.

I am grateful for the good friends that are in my life.