Originally Posted by
deanac 
I have difficulty at times fighting the urge to drink.
I had to stop fighting the urge. Fighting set up a power struggle that I would "win" (or "lose") by drinking.
When I stopped fighting, I had to live with the fact that part of me "wanted to drink" and another part of me "wanted to stop drinking". Every time I felt awful and "wanted to drink", I chose not to drink. I just suffered quietly through the discomfort. The desire to drink was there, but I did not act on it. After a while, I stopped feeling the desire to drink.
I went on to work the 12 Steps of AA, but not to stop drinking so much as to learn to deal with all my fears and anger. I wanted to become an emotionally and mentally healthier person, and I saw a path to that in AA. I wanted to learn to live life with a greater sense of happiness, which I have learned through the 12 Steps. And for me, I'm pretty sure that feeling happier, much happier, is a huge buffer against going back to drinking.