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Old 02-26-2011, 02:27 PM
  # 16 (permalink)  
zrx1200R
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Del Rio, TX
Posts: 380
Welcome, and the words of experience from my corner of the alcoholic universe are:

They never start off as bad as they get. If they did, we would have all ditched them the minute they did. It is insidious. It happens over time. If you did nothing, and could magically project yourself 10 then 20 years into the future, you would never believe you allowed yourself to live like you are then. Yes, you allowed yourself to live like that. You made a choice.

Now, before all that happens here in the present you have some choices.

Armed with the statistical model generated from years of dealing with these people, the collective wisdom here indicates: Things will get worse. Things will not get better until something big happens. You are powerless to effect the change.

You can possibly start the change process by giving an ultimatum. Sometimes they work. The alcoholic sees this as a major consequence and chooses to quit, or maybe even reduce the consumption. Again, you are not making the change. You are simply clearly stating what you will and will not accept. The alcoholic makes the choice to change or not. It is up to them. Often the alcoholic laughs at your ultimatum, stand firm on his ground that HE has no problem. And the problem is you. At that point you have 2 choices. Leave or stay. I stayed, and it cost me dearly both financially and emotionally. I don't recommend it, but understand if you do stay. Leaving is hard for people like us.

Since yours is not drinking heavily, it may be a relatively easy process. And I would encourage you to act sooner than later. Like Gouda cheese left in a baggie with fish heads sitting out in the sun, this situation is not going to improve over time. It will only smell worse. that's for certain.
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