Rock Bottom Is When You Decide to Quit Digging.

People talk about rock bottom like it’s a place.

It’s not.

Rock bottom is a decision.

I know because I found mine more than once.

For me, one of those moments was literally laying on the ground with a gash on my head. Hurt. Beaten down. Alcohol had taken control of my life, yet somehow I had spent years convincing myself that I could still handle it.

That picture of me on the ground represents something bigger than the cut on my head.

That was what my drinking had become.

But even then, I had a choice.

I could keep digging—or I could finally put the shovel down.

How Far Down Do We Have to Go?

One of the biggest lies I told myself was:

It’s not that bad.

I still had things.

I still had people in my life.

I could still function.

There was always somebody drinking worse than me.

So I kept digging.

That’s the dangerous thing about alcoholism. Rock bottom can always get lower if you’re willing to keep digging.

You don’t have to lose your house.

You don’t have to lose your family.

You don’t have to lose your job.

You don’t have to end up in jail, a hospital, or laying on the ground bleeding.

And you sure as hell don’t have to die.

Your bottom can be today.

It can simply be the moment you finally say:

I’ve had enough. I’m done digging.

I Had Been Sober Before

I had 4½ years sober once.

But I didn’t work the program the way I needed to. I eventually relapsed, and that relapse lasted about five years.

Looking back, that taught me something important:

For me, simply removing alcohol wasn’t enough.

When I came back, I did things differently.

I crawled back into the rooms and asked for help.

I got a sponsor.

I worked the Steps.

I started listening instead of thinking I already knew everything.

I found a Higher Power.

I got involved.

I started helping other alcoholics.

And most importantly, I finally started building my life around my sobriety instead of trying to fit sobriety around my life.

That’s when things changed.

Rock Bottom Doesn’t Have to Be the End

I used to look at my lowest moments with shame.

Today I look at them differently.

I’m not proud of everything that happened, but I’m grateful I finally learned from it.

That man laying on the ground with a gash in his head didn’t know what his life could become.

He didn’t know that recovery could give him clarity.

He didn’t know he’d find purpose in helping other people.

He didn’t know he’d eventually be able to talk openly about the things he once wanted to hide.

He just needed to do one thing:

Quit digging.

That’s recovery.

It isn’t pretending the past didn’t happen. It’s taking everything that happened and doing something useful with it.

You Get to Decide Where Your Bottom Is

If you’re reading this while wondering whether your drinking is really that bad, maybe that’s not the question you should be asking.

Ask yourself:

How much worse am I willing to let it get?

Because there will always be another excuse to keep digging.

Tomorrow.

After the weekend.

After the holidays.

After this stressful situation.

After one more drink.

I lived that way.

Eventually, I learned that nobody was coming to magically fix my life.

People could offer their hands. AA could show me a way. A sponsor could guide me. My Higher Power could give me strength.

But I still had to grab the hand.

I had to become willing.

I had to put down the shovel.

My Rock Bottom Became My Foundation

Today, I don’t want to forget the man who was laying on that ground.

I need to remember him.

Not so I can live in shame—but so I never forget where another drink can take me.

My past isn’t something I need to run from anymore.

It’s part of the reason I keep fighting.

It’s why I talk about recovery.

It’s why I believe in helping the next person.

It’s why I believe we need to Normalize Sobriety instead of continuing to normalize the drinking culture that keeps convincing people they don’t have a problem yet.

Maybe you’re nowhere near my bottom.

Good.

You don’t have to be.

You don’t have to experience everything I experienced before deciding you’ve had enough.

Rock bottom isn’t the moment when you’ve lost absolutely everything.

Rock bottom is the moment you finally decide to quit digging.

Put the shovel down.

Ask for help.

Grab the hand that’s reaching for you.

Then start climbing.

Normalize Sobriety.

Keep it Clean. Keep it Simple.

NormalizeSobriety.net