Hi B. I looked at what I posted yesterday and felt I should say something as a warning. I didn't mean to give the impression that I somehow did this all by myself. After I decided enough was enough (that mind shift that I referred to), I started attending AA meetings regularly for a couple months. That really help me in the early stages. Then I had to go to jail for a brief time and when I got out I had no drivers license for a year and a half. I live out in the sticks so it was all I could do to get back and forth to work, let alone attend AA meetings. It also made it much easier for me to steer clear of situations where I could be tempted. By the time I got my license back I was so enthralled with the wonders of sobriety, I don't think anyone could've paid me to take even a sip of anything with alcohol in it. One time we mistakenly bought some kind of mouthwash that contained alcohol. When I poured it into a little cup, I could smell and feel (in the back of my throat) the alcohol vapors. It turned my stomach. [The last drink of 100 proof I took 6.5 years ago I immediately threw up.] So, I still had a healthy adversion to the stuff. I dumped it down the drain and threw away the container. And that was after about two years of sobriety!
We are all different and we all have different mental and physical conditions and environments. I didn't want you to think that all you have to do is perform some mental trick and that was that for the rest of your life. My situation was NOT typical and neither is my recovery story since then. I haven't had to endure many of the struggles that many courageously face and conquer. I was in the blackouts/crazy stage of alcoholism and should've had severe withdrawl reactions from quitting and many subsequent temptations and battles to wage - but I didn't. Weird, huh? I have no idea why or how my mind changed like that so suddenly, or why or how I haven't had to employ huge efforts to maintain it that way. I do know that it's very unusual. Maybe I shouldn't have even shared these things since they are so unusual. But, I know for a fact that we most certainly CAN live free from drinking and drugging if we really want and that when we do, our lives take a huge turn for the better. OK - I hope I've made sense and you understand what I'm saying.