I told myself almost daily for the last 5 years that I was getting better because I would not drink for 3 or 4 or 5 days in a row while on a business trip and that drinking again when I was back home on the weekend was OK. And during that same time when I was home all week long I drank every day and told myself that it was no big deal because I was traveling the next week and I could once again go without drinking because I was "getting better." You would have thought that after more than 20 years drinking I would have known the lie that I was telling myself, but it doesn't work that way, at least not for me. In the last month before I quit I was drinking 15 to 20 beers a night. "Cutting down" never worked for me in 27 years, only stopping completely has worked. It has been a short time, but it is easier today to not drink than it was 12 days ago.