Lightbulb Moment: You can't turn a pickle into a cucumber
I'm reading _Drinking: A Love Story(what a great book) and came last night to the chapter about moderation.The author noted that for many (although certainly not for everyone) a problem with alcohol develops over time and is a process, analogous to a cucumber becoming a pickle.She also used that image to explain why those of us like me with a problem with drinking, can't moderate: you can stop a cucumber from becoming a pickle, but once a pickle is a pickle, you can't turn it back into a cucumber.
I'm not sure why, but when I read that, it was an a-ha moment. I am a pickle. I can swear, gnash my teeth and complain to the universe, but it doesn't change the facts: I'm a pickle and I can't drink again.