Thanks for all the advice. Just about 7 months I embarked on this journey to sobriety and to say it has been full of ups and downs would be an understatement. The quote that referred to "the realization my body had developed an allergy to alcohol and my mind had developed an addiction" really hit home. I learned through the weeks of sobriety I managed to link together every. single. aspect. of my life was better without drinking.
My mind told me it was ready to drink and would be harmless. It convinced me that 6 pack would treat me just as my old friend did when I was 21. My mind convinced me a few beers and a small hangover would be harmless.
My body reacted by telling me it was not harmless. It was dangerous... it had been slowly killing me for a number of years and would continue to do so. I could never drink like I did during the "enjoyable" years.
Hopefully, for some reason I'm grateful beyond belief, God is opening my eyes earlier than lots of others. At 32. I hope I still have a lot of time to live on this Earth, sober.
I can see a life of intoxication and hangovers would be full of physical pain and regrets at the end.
So here we go... back on the journey. And I was able to read, drink coffee, and watch the sunrise again this morning. I'm so thankful and so hopeful.