My name’s Iain and I’m an alcoholic. I’ve been sober for just over four years and that’s since my first meeting in Carnoustie at the end of summer in 2003, when I was 27 years old.
At that time my life was a bit of a disaster area. I was in trouble with the law, I was suspended from work and I had had to give up my home, all thanks to the trouble that went along with getting drunk. Fortunately, my parents took me in and there I stayed until I was back on my feet. It wasn’t until I had the fright of my life in a road accident, brought on by my drink-driving, that I finally asked for help. I was lucky in that the only things damaged were my car and a tree, but the feelings of collecting that wreck the next day are something that I don’t ever want to repeat.
I called AA on the same day that I had my car pulled out of the field. I went to my first meeting that night. So here I was, in a meeting of AA with all these sober people living good lives and I’m out on bail and in the newspapers. Somehow though I knew it was the place for me. I had that only requirement for membership which is a desire to stop drinking.
When my court case came to an end in my ninth month of sobriety, I lost an awful lot, including my job, but I had kept my freedom. Through my sobriety, I was given another chance. I went back to college and I was successful in the course I had chosen. I applied for a job where I could use my new certificate and I was accepted. This was all within two years of getting sober. In my third and fourth years of sobriety I lived abroad, working hard in my new job and having a sober life. I also continued to go to English-speaking meetings and got involved in service, from doing the helpline to being group representative.
The turnaround I’ve had has been unbelievable. AA gave me the chance of a new life and it was well worth taking. If it hadn’t been for AA, I wouldn’t have met someone special who also lives a sober life. I met her in Bavaria and we’re both looking forward to a future together. The guy that I thought nobody wanted to know (myself) now has friends, a fiancée and, if I keep doing what I’m doing, a sober future.

Iain D
Carnoustie