Old 02-02-2015, 08:11 AM
  # 449 (permalink)  
MesaMan
Member
 
MesaMan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Colorado
Posts: 3,475
Good one, Non...

Personally, I chalk up the possibility of me drinking again right up with other improbables. To focus in on it in some unique 'what if' Relapse thinking either feeds the possibility, or helps support - in some tiny manner - the whole Paradigm that we're all one Drink away from oblivion. All the time. Welp, to borrow a phrase from 'Seinfeld', the Folks working within that Paradigm 'ain't selling it, and I ain't buying it'.

Once that me drinking again is not a possibility, does it deserve some unique Label? Perhaps not. Just having some fun with this question; not trying to nick anyone's perspective.

From other Language Models, Folks say 'I'm Retired Air Force'. 'Ex-Machinist'. 'Retired Cop', or 'Retired Pilot'.

Me, I'd use the term 'Retired Drinker', or 'Ex-Drinker'. To date, I usually say 'I don't drink anymore...' without further needless detail. Some Folks here might want to distinguish between the behavior of no longer Drinking vs. delving into some label pertaining to that discontinued activity. Retired Commercial Pilots are just that. They are never going to fly again Commercially. It's not some 'what if' possibility. They're forever old. I'm forever Sober. Neither state is reversible.

I don't avoid the term 'Alcoholic' because I'm ashamed of it. I'm not, actually. For me, 'Addict' is far more pertinent. However, using the language 'I'm ex-this or ex-that' begs further definition, and it might make the Listener uncomfortable. I'm also an 'ex-Asthmatic'. I outgrew it. I chalk up my Addict propensities to Genetics. I Sunburn, too. More Genetics that I'm not ashamed about. Once I moved beyond the Shame Game related to Alcohol, I don't think much about the rest of the Population and Alcohol, nor their propensity to Sunburn or not.

I think I'll start calling myself a 'Retired Drinker'. It's accurate, and it avoids buying into the paradigm that I'm forever an Alcoholic who's one slip away from oblivion. That precarious thinking is for someone else. I find it mired in hopelessness; enabled helplessness; and dependent on external definitions instead of an internalized one I carry inside me 24/7.

I don't keep myself Sober. For me, that thinking feeds the irrelevant Model that I'm one slip away. That's simply not the case. I am Sober.

Me, I'm done Drinking. Putting some Stake In The Sand re: my former Drinking Life, and then referring back to that today as some 'Touchstone' that I'm some 'ex-' of, doesn't work for me. I haven't thought about being an ex-Asthmatic for years. There's no reason, as time in Sobriety goes on, to not think of past Drinking in the same, detached manner.

This Post caused me to think; a good thing over Coffee. Thanks for that.-)

-----
MesaMan is offline