Sober Talk SA - Rolf

Sober Talk SA - Rolf

Curious about how others manage their sobriety journey? This raw and often darkly funny story from Rolf on Sober Talk SA walks through 25 years of daily drinking, denial, faith, and the shock of almost dying from "just one bottle of wine". Rolf talks about thinking he was a "bloody genius" for getting drunk cheaply at home, timing his cask wine around late-night TV and even putting plastic sheets on the bed to deal with the consequences.

He describes how alcohol became his main source of "peace, ease and comfort", even as he tried to live as a committed Christian and family man. Things spiral after the stillbirth of a child, and Rolf describes six months of near-constant drinking and emotional collapse. He eventually finds Alcoholics Anonymous, manages to stop drinking physically, but keeps telling himself he isn’t really powerless because he never ended up in jail or rehab.

That belief nearly kills him when he decides he’s “just thirsty” and has what he plans as one harmless drink, waking up instead in hospital with a breathing tube. From there, the story shifts to how he finally grasps Step One and builds a daily spiritual practice around the serenity prayer and Step Eleven. He reflects on loss, divorce, and the limits of what he can change, saying his only real choice now is how he responds to painful realities.

"The only thing I can really do is change myself and my response to the tragedies of the past and realities of the present," he explains. Listeners looking for a candid account of long-term dependence, the danger of "just one drink", and how faith and AA principles can support ongoing sobriety will find plenty to relate to and think about. If you’ve ever told yourself you were still in control, how different is your story from Rolf’s?