Great way to express what I am feeling, too, Gilmer :-)
I am so grateful I have reached this point. Initially i didn't think I could stop, then wasn't sure if I could maintain this. Now, although I'm not getting overconfident, I'm feeling so much more empowered. Yes, I feel stressed about upcoming changes but I know, deep down, that escaping can only make things worse. Watching the Alaska State Troopers, hokey though it may be, finally really brought home to me what I had heard: that alcohol makes liars of us. I kept hearing people deny that they were impaired when they could barely walk or were incredibly angry and mouthy. At first I thought that couldn't be me. Hah! Then I realized that yes, that could so easily have been and in some cases, was, me. And I surely don't want to be that way!