Originally Posted by
FormerBeerLover 
First, congrats on your sober time! I was a daily drunk for 10 years and a weekly binger for the 20 years before that. I found out that not drinking was the easy part, the hard part has been figuring out WHY I drank in the first place. I think that's why so many do fail, they never get to the root cause. I figured that I put so much work into getting drunk, that I'd better work at staying sober. That was almost one year ago and today I am free of any thoughts of drinking. I did it without any formal program, but I realize that's not for everybody. From what I've heard and read from others, if you truly work at the program of your choice, you'll have a much better chance of success.
I'm living proof that it's never too late to change. I do wish you well.
Good question,why do I drink? My father is alcoholic and I was raised (by my mother) to understand alcoholism and the consequences. This awareness kept me out of the woods for most of my 20's. That being said, i found myself drinking regularly by my early 30's with brief periods of sobriety along the way. i am 39 now. I'm thinking alcoholism is at least partly genetic. Don't know for sure. My life could be better but it is fairly good overall. I even have reasonably good coping skills with the exception of substance abuse. But, 30 days, a year, 20 years - relapse is still waiting around the corner for all of us. This sucks. I guess I'm just venting and still coming to terms with things. Everyday sober is better than the last one drinking. This I know for sure.