I'm on my second really serious attempt to quit drinking although I had been drinking many years.
Prior to my first attempt I read the RR book, participated on the AVRT threads here, tried to practice mindfulness, etc., and just spent hours and hours thinking about me and my drinking, trying to get a whole understanding of the whole picture. I spent hours and hours reading the various forums on SR (still do).
One day back in June I was out walking on a trail, very, very hungover with my marriage falling apart, and I slipped, fell, and fractured my femur (thigh). I decided that was like God punishing me for all the pain I've caused and declared then and there that I was done, just done with drinking. I knew AVRT and all the tools needed to quit. I was 100% never going to drink again. My belief that I was never going to drink again was so strong (as it needed to be) and I felt so good about it and so proud of myself. I, too, wondered if I was being over-confident and whether quitting drinking could really be just that easy, like turning a switch off.
I continued that way for about two months as I recovered from surgery. One day my 25 year-old son invited me to a really nice restaurant for dinner. I'd always enjoyed being able to have a few drinks with him now that he was old enough to drink. Well, we went to dinner and he ordered a cocktail and I ordered an Arnold Palmer. I could see how disappointed he was (or his Beast?) when I explained that I was not going to drink during this special time together. After dinner he wanted to go to the restaurant's bar and have a couple of drinks. When I explained that sure we can go to the bar but I wasn't going to have a drink, once again I saw his disappointment. He really wanted me to have a good time and in the past, drinking at a nice bar would certainly have a been good time for me.
So...in spite of all my planning, knowledge gained here and elsewhere, and 100% confidence when I first walked through the restaurant's doors, I caved. My AV told me why not just a couple in order to make your son happy, then you can get back with your plan? It was supposed to be a special night just for the two of us.
Well, that night started another run at drinking that didn't end until the night before Thanksgiving when I ran out of my own wine, drank most of a bottle of my husband's expensive wine, and he lit into me about how rude I was to do that (among other things).
I know people say here you quit when you decide to quit, and I believe that. Still, my personal experience is that I was not prepared to disappoint my son in order to remain sober. I was prepared for other things and situations, but not that one. At that moment I could not separate myself from my AV. I learned from that experience, though. The next time that happens, I will be prepared.
Now here I am back at SR with a new quit and a very humble attitude. Yes, I'm confident I'll never drink again, but I have no doubt of the sneakiness of my AV, either. I don't think it would be in my best interest just to declare myself "cured" and move on. There is much more I need to understand so I spend even more time reading here, learning, and preparing myself for the next time. Because I'm convinced there will be a next time, for me, there certainly will be a next time. And, I would venture to say that most people new to recovery are worried about how they will react when their "next time" comes, even those practicing AVRT.
Cleo, I don't know if what I've written helps you in your journey, but it has surely helped me. I can set the bar at 100% but even so, I need to be ever vigilant in this, to me, very, very serious business of quitting. It turns out that even though it's easy to quit, more often than not it's also not so easy. Hopefully, in time I can let loose a bit.
I courage you to stay here and continue to learn from everyone here who has so much to give. And I wish you much luck going forward.