Originally Posted by
jimihendrix 
When these things happened, how did you prevent relapse?
Was it very very hard?
or were you so accustomed to sobriety that drinking never presented itself as an option?
or did you feel something else entirely?
Relapsing is not a part of the (my) recovery journey, rather relapsing is altogether a part of the alcoholism (illness). So its not so much that I avoided relapsing, its not something that was even possible on my sober journey. On the face of it, it sounds a tad arrogant, but I'm speaking from sober experience. I've been without a drink or a drunk since July 1981, so relasping is obviously not a part of my sober journey. To relapse, I would have to first quit my sober journey... flounder around... refuse to regain my sobriety... then I could in fact, be in a state to experience a relapse into active (back to drinking) alcoholism.
Being accustomed to sobriety does not prevent drinking from being available. Its always available, but its never an option, you understand?
I'm always feeling (and thinking) this or that or the next thing, and these uncharted wanderings into my psyche greatly enrich my experiences of keeping sober.