Bugs I have no doubt you are an alcoholic, you quit earlier then I did, no, my dog is not bigger then yours at all. It is a progressive disease, I quit for a year and a half in my early 20's, no real problem at all. When I quit then I was drinking on average 7 cases a week. I was simply further progressed in the disease then you when I finally quit for good. If anything you are a smarter alcoholic then I am, you recognized your problem before the physical addiction was as severe as mine.
We are all different, alcoholism is not a one size fits all disease, the progression varies drastically from one alcoholic to the next.
Bugs I was in no way insinuating that you were not an alcoholic, the only thing I was doing was sharing my experience. You said:
clearly it is what you choose to believe that becomes your reality.
To that I replied that unlike what you insinuated that I "chose to believe" that it was not what I chose to beleive, it was my experience.
I respected your experience, it would be nice if you respected mine as well.
Bugs an alcoholic is an alcoholic, any alcoholic can become a full blown alcoholic if they drink long enough, that does not make them "more" of an alcoholic then other alcoholics, it simply means their disease progressed to a point of physical addiction where the withdrawal from alcohol is severe, in many cases severe enough to require medical detox to withdraw safely.
You share your experience and I share mine, I respect your experience, I do not doubt it, nor do I insinuate that your beleive becomes your reality.
My experience is my reality, just like your experience is your reality.
Taz, the gist of what I read from your post is that you feel I am not an alcoholic...forgive me if I read it wrong.
Forgiven. LOL
I said:
Bugs I am happy for anyone who quits drinking before they cross that line into full blown alcoholism, it is like stepping through the gates of hell. To have a liquid control your very soul is not a place I wish upon even an enemy.
I bolded that what I said applied to everyone, I share my experience in the hopes that other alcoholics will quit before they hit that point, not to try and put myself ahead of or more then anyone.
Think about it, I was an idiot, I refused to accept my disease far longer then you did, I refused to do anything about it until I was what the medical community refers to as a full blown alcoholic. This is not a title I pulled out of my own hat, this is what the specialist in alcoholism and drug addiction told me I was.
Bugs you shoul feel your self way above me, you are an alcoholic that quit while the quitting was good (Not easy I am sure), I was a pig headed fool that took it almost to far.