chiquen81

I did pretty well for about 4 days and then I caved last Thursday. There is a liquor store right on my way home from work in plain sight and it's really easy to stop in very quickly to get something. Also, there is a really nice liquor store next to the grocery store that I go to. So, I have issues with this. I was wondering if there were any tactics people used to avoid going in and trying to resist the urge.

Bamboozle

If you can't avoid driving by these places the only thing you can do is ignore the urge. Urges don't have to be acted upon. The bad feelings will eventually go away.

MagicMan08

Do not go into the store. If you do go into the store, maybe ask the people there to refuse to sell to you for a month or something. I have never really had an issue with going into the stores themselves

traderjane

The problem is, in many parts of the USA and worldwide, wine and beer are sold in the grocery stores. I used to love that when I didn't have much a problem with alcohol. One stop shopping! I have lived in several different places, but now I live in a state where alcohol is NOT sold in the grocery stores. I guess I am lucky for that. However, wine stores are on every street corner around here and it is impossible not to drive by them. They are there, and they are not going anywhere. Alcohol is readily available and I guess that's a fact of life. Once I accepted this -- it's there and easily available, I had to train myself to NEVER GO IN THAT STORE AGAIN. Period. Think of all the money you'll be saving. Buy yourself something you love with that money! You have the choice not to stop the car, not to give into the craving and to keep driving. Once you get into new habits, it's easier. I have not stopped at my wine store in weeks and I have stopped thinking about it.

suki44883

Take a different route home for a while.

TTOSBT

Yup. I am with Suki. I changed my route home for a while. I made sure that I bought my cigarettes in a tobacco store and kept myself stocked up so I did not have an excuse. Do not find yourself needing to stop at those places for any reason. Don't stop.
Accept the fact that you no longer have ANY business being in those establishments.

I live in California. Alcohol is sold anytime (almost, I think there are 3-4 hours in the middle of the night), anywhere. I avoided those aisles in the grocery store. I avoided liquor store. I still don't go to bars. Change what is acceptable for you to do in your life!

Freedom1990

I remember in early sobriety I would literally start sweating and my hands would shake when I walked past the beer in the grocery store!

Thank God I no longer feel that way. AA, a loving God, and a lot of hard work on my part took the obsession away.

aasharon90

Alcohol to me is POISON.

As long as I continue to remember
that alcohol is CUNNING, BAFFLING
AND POWERFUL and the urge the
craving can strike at anytime. Any
place when u least expect it to.

In early recovery Id say the SERENITY
PRAYER a many a times. Id say it fast
and over and over again until the i felt
a calm come over me then the urge would
eventually pass. Whew..!!

Over the yrs, i have used the principles
and steps of my program to guide me
in my everyday affairs. Including trips
to the grocery store where there is the
liquor or poison isle.

Im not gonna lie and tell u i hate liquor
because i dont. What I hate the most
about it is what it did to me. However,
when i go shopping and pass the liquor
isle all i have to do is play some old
tapes back and recall what beer, wine
liquor did to me.

I ran off the road wee hours of the morning
hitting a concret culvert sitting on top
the ground. I took my first EMS ride not
recalling it at all. Spent 10 days in the
hospital and 3 to 4 months recovery
without alcohol.

That was Feb 1990. Then Aug 1990 I
picked up a drink, POISON and i attempted
to end my miserable life.

The progession of my disease was so
rapid that thinking of it still today aston-
ishes me.

CUNNING BAFFLING POWERFUL.

Is it worth it to take a drink of
alcohol or poison today? Or visit
the liquor isle at the grocery store
today? I think NOT...!

And that's the way it works for me.

Angel1

a simple but very powerful thing to remember:

AcceptingChange

The afterwork, 5pm-7pm time frame, is a trigger time for me. And there is a liquor store on my drive home. For a few weeks, when my urges were strong, i'd stop at McDonalds and get a chocolate shake. I wanted to satisfy the craving that is both alcohol and hunger and low energy level. I developed a shake-habit for a few weeks. I found that substituting something non-alcoholic helped more than "just saying no". I'd also go into the book store and read recovery books, reminding myself that recovery is hard, but continuing the disease is weak and foolish.

JJB

Oh I found that so difficult when I first stopped drinking. I just didn't know how to walk past or drive past the wine shop.

What i did was I would PM a kind SR member before going out to wherever i had to go to (which unfortunatley would take me past the wine shop)with the message that I would report back on return-sounds daft but it worked!

Alternatively if you can have someone you can phone just before and after that would help too
I know that finally we have to learn to be accountable to ourselves but in the very first days i found it easier to be accountable to someone else!

Nevertheless

I agree with accepting change
I didn't stop at Mcdonalds, but I stopped at the day old Hostess place daily. Chocolate.

FightingIrish

I used A.A. meetings to keep me occupied in early sobriety. Most of the meetings were at 8pm, which according to my schedule makes it very difficult to drink, and I quickly made myself accountable to a few people to show up there, and I also took a coffee commitment that made sure I got to a meeting. It was hard to give in to urges without throwing the whole idea of getting sober into the toilet. (I like to do things right!)

On weekends sometimes I went to two or three meetings a day if I needed to.

Unstructured free time was a killer, and I tried to avoid it whenever possible.

Going past a liquor store now is a non-issue...I have had a few occasions going in to a liquor store to pick up wine or whatever for people. It's not something I strive to do regularly, but when I do it's a non-issue.

McGowdog

If mind control or some form of rational thought helps keep you away from the "first drink" or if avoidance works for you, go for it.

If you find that this stuff still doesn't work for you, ask yourself how in tune you are with your need to avoid booze in the first place. Have you lost control over the ability to stop once you start... and have you lost your ability to rationalize yourself away from the 1st drink? Maybe you cannot control the amount of booze once you start, but if you could only get a head of steam staying away from the 1st drink a month or so, you can stay stopped on your own power.

If you still can't get and stay sober, maybe the A.A. program has a solution for you. I'm free from alcohol physically and mentally. It's in my house! Imagine that! I don't fear that it's gonna get me. I will not drink it and have not for over 5 and a half years. I credit that with the work I did in A.A. and continue to do seeking God and helping others.
If I'm going to be free of booze, I have to be free of booze. I needed help getting there and it's up to me to remain there.

Hope you find the help you need.

FightingIrish

I would pour the 2004 down the drain, McG....wasn't a very good year. :-)

MycoolFitz

Try living in Nevada, liquor is sold everywhere, 24/7, 7-11s, walmarts, every grocery store, casino, people can have open containers and drink on the street, even college sports. Luckily I think I've built up a tolerance, don't even see the sections now and my grocery shopping has gotten faster and way less expensive. Life's good, in the 4 months sober I've probably saved thousands.

Wolfchild

i resist the urge by surrendering to the process
of living the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

i have learned the value of letting go and letting God
guide my life & my recovery by staying true to myself.

Why not go to a meeting today and ask for help to stay sober?

McGowdog

It's the wife's, not mine. How do you know that wine made in Humboldt County in 2004 is bad, anyway?

Besides that, If I was drinking or wanted to drink booze, I'd drink bad wine out of a pig's ear.

MyCoolFitz, true that! If temptation is your hangup, don't live in Las Vegas!

Mark75

Dog..

My wife keeps her Firestone Reisling in the fridge... Doesn't bother me. The Jack, nope... However, opening the door to cold beer every day would get to me.

Like others said, in PA they don't sell it in most grocery stores, I used to hate that, not anymore!!

Mark

chiquen81

Wow, lots of responses to my post! Thanks everyone for replying.

I guess I am sort of lucky that I live in an area where they don't sell liquor in the grocery stores (they do in the city, but i'm in the suburbs) and they don't sell it after 6pm on Sunday. I think most liquor stores close around 10pm around here.

I can't imagine living in a place where they sold it 24/7. That would be really hard for me.

Isn't it kind of sad how something so toxic is so easily accessible?