PhaseTwo

To the OP , I definitely felt the same way. If the end game isn't getting drunk then what's the point of drinking at all. There were a few times I had a couple beers and stopped, but I ALWAYS wished I could keep going.

To Free Coffee I think many of us have tried moderation plenty of times before and failed every time. I wish you wouldn't post that viewpoint on here. I respect your right to voice an opinion but I just don't see the point.

newman23

^^^ This.

My idea of "safe drinking" was always getting completely hammered and making sure I don't have my keys on me, or my phone, computer to post on Facebook, or do anything I'd regret the next day. Having 1-2 drinks never appealed to me either. If I had the option to drink a beer or two, I'd personally rather have a Coke Zero or something else I enjoy, if I can't get drunk.

dSober

For the newcomers here: My suggestion is go to meetings, mostly open speaker meetings at first. Go early, stay late. Tell people you're a newcomer. Talk but mostly listen. One mouth, two ears. Get a Big Book and read it. There is no magic pill. It's gonna take time and effort.

gaffo

One of the hardest things about early sobriety for me was constantly thinking about drinking. It wasn't that i wanted to start again, it just bugged my brain, like a bad song repeating itself for weeks until I thought I was going to lose my mind. Thankfully, that eventually went away--like everyone here said it would. Now at least I can be a "normal" sober person, since I failed at being a "normal" drinker.

soberlicious

My view is different. Over the years I have come to believe that there is nothing "normal" at all about drinking alcohol in any amount. Of course, most people imbibe in a way that causes them no problems at all, but I still think it's a weird thing to do to ingest ethanol (a known toxin that can potentially damage the body) in order to artificially change your mood.

Something being "the norm" just means that a majority do it or think it. It means nothing more than that. Societal norms change. They are different among different cultures and subcultures. There is no one distinct "normal" for the use of alcohol. It's going to look very different depending on where you look. For some subcultures, no alcohol is normal, for others copious amounts fall well within the norm.

Arbor

Interesting thought. People have been altering their moods with substances for centuries. In a way I do think that's normal (despite all my problems). What's not normal is abusing substances despite ill health and consequence.

Millions of People ingest toxins everyday. Whether it be caffeine, sugars, fast food, nicotine, etc. You can go as far to say that eating non organic GMO foods is toxic to the body too. People will still do it. I wouldn't say it's not normal though. Just a thought.

soberlicious

It's true. I don't see how the fact that it's been done forever makes it a good or valid practice though.


Agreed. People will be in poor health and still do these things. I wouldn't call that normal.

You can extrapolate the idea out to include non organic GMO foods and I do agree they are toxic. Some people simply do not have access to anything else and must eat and feed their children. I'd say that's a far cry different from choosing to drink alcohol, or to use refined sugar, caffeine, or nicotine. Non organic GMO has at least one redeeming quality. It can sustain life. None of those other substances have benefit beyond mood change.