Alcohol Intake

“My therapist was also a physician and an expert in his field. He advised me that if I quit drinking cold turkey, he was worried that I would experience delirium tremors (DTs). My alcohol intake was that serious. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Immediately after I stopped drinking, I began to feel  better. Within a week, I felt fabulous. My head cleared and as a result, my life changed forever.”

The Quitting Process: 7 Benefits of a “Alcohol Free Life”

• Fun: during this process, “I learned that I didn’t have to have a drink to have a good time.”
• Memory: soon I found I could have a good time at parties. “I could even remember them too!”
• Extra Time: when my mind cleared (from the alcohol) “I now had time in the evenings, when I could read and relax. It was like I added three or four hours to every day of my life.”
• Productivity: with the added time “I could do so much more. I was much more alert. My energy was much better and so was my concentration.”
• Sleep: no longer drinking to knock myself out before bedtime, “I slept better. I felt better.”
• Physical: along with the higher energy level came an improved physical well being. “I began to exercise.”
• Spiritual and Psychological: I had a spiritual and psychological awakening. After chasing the elusive million dollar verdicts for years, “I really believed that the Universe would give me what I wanted as long as it was consistent with my client’s interests.”

I read 250 books, during this time, that provided the basis for my spirituality and feeling that we are all connected. This video is an excerpt from chapter 22 “Changes and Challenges” in my book Getting a Winning Verdict In My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul:

A Message of Hope

If you or a loved one is challenged with addiction, alcoholism, or stress please consider purchasing my book. My experiences and story of triumph over addiction and alcoholism could provide extra support in the fight to take control of your life or that of a loved one.

My intervention was an awakening. Something had happened that changed my life- I had been publicly humiliated! I felt like I had been slapped in the face. There was no more kidding anybody else. No more kidding myself about how serious my alcoholism, and it WAS alcoholism, was- there was no more joking.

A Message of Hope

If you or a loved one is challenged with addiction, alcoholism, or stress please consider purchasing my book. My experiences and story of triumph over addiction and alcoholism could provide extra support in the fight to take control of your life or that of a loved one.

Chapter 20: Intervention

“The coffee shop was deserted except for four men sitting at a table in the corner. One man was Bill Gibbs my former law partner. Another man was Edwin (Ed) Train Caldwell, a trial lawyer I knew from San Francisco. Burke M. Critchfield was also there. He was a lawyer in the Pleasanton-Livermore area. I approached the table with a sense of confusion and rising concern.

Liz turned to me. She looked serious as she said “Gary these men want to talk to you about drinking.” I was puzzled and asked “So do you want to have a drink?”  But they were not here for a drink. That wasn’t what this was about.”

It was something that I had never heard of: an intervention. The video tells the rest:

A Message of Hope

If you or a loved one is challenged with addiction, alcoholism, or stress please consider purchasing my book. My experiences and story of triumph over addiction and alcoholism could provide extra support in the fight to take control of your life or that of a loved one.

The following video and excerpt derives from my experiences near the end of my hard drinking days. I chronicled this period in my life in chapter 19, “Burning Out In The Fast Lane”, of my book “Getting a Winning Verdict In My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul.”

“The stress was mounting. I felt pressure from running my law firm and handling a heavy caseload. I was trying to balance being a family man and a good father with being an excellent trial lawyer and a fun party guy. The hard drinking and late nights were affecting me. Life was weighing me down.”

A Message of Hope

If you or a loved one is challenged with addiction, alcoholism, or stress please consider purchasing my book. My experiences and story of triumph over addiction and alcoholism could provide extra support in the fight to take control of your life or that of a loved one.

Courtesy FrankieBoyer.com

The following radio interview with Frankie Boyer, nationally syndicated talk radio host of the Health Show, provides further insight into my fight and perseverance over alcoholism. During the show, we discuss the role alcohol plays in our society especially the legal profession, the reasons why I drank to excess, finding my rock bottom, and the intervention that saved my life.

The true essence of our talk came when Frankie asked me how I was able to begin the road to recover and repair my life. I believe we need to take a psycho-spiritual approach to recovery:

• It’s not just about quitting drinking
• It requires us to dedicate time to ourselves
• Conduct our own spiritual search
• Find out who we are

Interview: The Frankie Boyer Show

My Book: Getting a Winning Verdict In My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul

Courtesy BuzzAldrin.com

One of the featured speakers on my recent cruise was Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step onto the moon.  Buzz has written a very interesting book about his experience, entitled Magnificent Desolation which was a term he used to describe the moon as he was standing on it.  His talk was timely since the 40^th anniversary of the moon landing – July 20^th, 2009 – was fast approaching. What I did not expect was how honest and detailed he spoke about his struggles in life.

Coming Back Down to Earth

Much of Buzz’s speech wasn’t just about the experience of the moon landing, but about how it effected him.  He was very open about how he had really struggled with his self esteem upon returning to earth.  What can top walking on the moon?  In any event, he slipped into depression and serious alcoholism.  He struggled with it for years.  Now he was talking, not only about how to deal with one of the most famous experiences in history, but how to handle his own demons.

30 Minutes With a Legend

They had a Friend of Bill W meeting on the ship and I told him I would like to go there and discuss our experiences with alcohol in greater detail.  It turned out nobody else was at the meeting, so I ended up with a 30 minute one-on-one conversation with him.  As a result of this, we exchanged books.  Now I can say that I am friend of the man who walked on the moon.

The Most Important “Journey”

During our discussion together, I told Buzz – and I firmly believe this—that the most important thing in his life was that he has become a famous role model for people who can recover from addictions, depression, and failure.  It turns out his journey home – though it took many long years—was much more important than his journey to the moon.

I knew Liz was thinking about leaving me. I really didn’t blame her. There were too many late nights with lipstick on my collar and too many of my phony, stupid lies that demeaned us both. There was too much irritability caused by too much alcohol. I was stuck. I needed help. I was literally drowning myself. I was concerned about my liver. If I didn’t quit drinking, I could die. I am not sure I really cared at that point. I was depressed and afraid. Afraid to lose my lifestyle. Afraid to lose my family. Afraid to lose my life. What could I do? The answer to my dilemma came with sudden swiftness.

Learn more about the book.