Originally Posted by
ArtFriend 
I don't want the label of alcoholic. It really bugs me. That word is loaded (no pun intended) for me. I come from a highly dysfunctional family of origin (FOO) fraught with drug and alcohol abuse.
So don't use the label. Consider yourself someone that chooses not to drink because you have an allergy to it. Consider yourself someone that doesn't drink because you have a genetic tendency to lose control over your drinking. Consider yourself abstinent because alcohol causes bad things to happen in your life. Consider it however you want to.
The bottom line for me was that I finally realized the cold hard fact..I cannot control my drinking. And there is no worldly reason why...it simply IS. It might not be fair, and I might not like it, but the only way I was able to move forward was to acknowledge this as fact. ( you can call that acceptance or any other term too if you like ! )