Giving up is harder than giving in.......

So many of you that are close to me, know that my brother is an alcoholic. This is a struggle that he and my family have been quietly dealing with for many, many years. I could blog a hundred blogs about his struggle but instead I will say that giving up is harder than giving in.

Yesterday he entered a 28-day rehab program and I am so proud of him. More than words can ever say. He has made it through 36 days of daily AA meetings and now he is choosing to give up this addiction for something better.....something that I am sure is much harder than giving in to it.

As a show of support, I have asked everyone in my immediate family to give up something while he is in rehab. My sister is giving up Dr. Pepper, my mom sweets and I'm not sure about my dad. Maybe he can comment here and tell us. I am giving up biting my nails. Which, trust me, does two things......shows my support for Joey and makes me think about him every day, many times a day. I bought this horrible tasting stuff that I have painted on my fingernails so that I won't bite them. So, every time I put them in my mouth, it reminds me of Joey. The stuff is so horrible tasting that just the slightest taste and you have to cough and spit for 5 minutes just to get it out of your mouth....so far it has been a good deterrent to my nail biting...obviously.

Anyway, all I want is for my brother to love himself as much as we all do and I think he is on the track to getting there. PLEASE keep him and my family in your thoughts as we all struggle to give up our addictions instead of giving in to them.