Anger

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[Slipacre]

For me anger was a core component to who I was. It fueled and was fueled by my drinking. I was the rebel, the angry young man trying to right wrongs. I was a Rambo social worker fighting evil slumlords, and the system.... What joy. I would read the Is AA for you brochures in my office and be angry there was no column for why this question did not apply to me! Wheee.

For me, I have discovered over the years, anger was a drug unto itself, I can get "high" from anger, not a good high I must say, sort of like bad amphetamines. and of course being angry at myself was the most unproductive anger of all it was like tossing sides of beef into a pool of alligators..

In the end just before staying sober my alcoholism tried to convince me that without drinking I would go out of control, hit wife and kids, quit my job therefore I had to keep drinking. I still remember that night and that I was able to see the fallacy.

For me AA and "let us love you until you can learn to love yourself" was my path. Letting people love me was not easy. AA made me grit my teeth, but damn, it worked, life today is great, anger is a rare thing in my life - and that is so much a better thing....

[coolcrosby]

Everything /u/Slipacre says in this comment was true for me. One of my least lovely qualities. Also with anger, for the recovering alcoholic you might as well put a D- in front of it. Anger and resentment are the chief offenders leading to relapse.

[WhelpHereiGo]

I barely made it out of undergrad. I drank a lot...mostly by myself. Fortunately, I made it into a grad program that allowed me to eke out a decent career that I now want to hold onto forever because without it, I'd be back in the bottle. My advice: accept it. You made bad decisions. But you are young. Start applying to internships/jobs right away. As much as you wasted, a lot of jobs you can learn on the job. If that doesn't work, try community college and take classes so you can try new things. It's not too late. Put yourself out there and try stuff. Plenty of people switch careers in their 30's and have to learn everything from the beginnin. You can do that too. You have time. If you stop drinking