Hello, forum! I'm going to try and keep this as short and to-the-point as possible. Thanks in advance for even reading this
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I've been a moderate to heavy drinker for a little over four years now, since the day I turned 21, and I typically only drink on the weekends. On said weekends, it's usually 18 or so craft beers that I indulge in, and it's not very common for me to surpass this limit. Although this may not sound like much (and even
I'm unclear about whether I have a problem or not), I'm on a spiritual path of sorts to try and manage my social anxiety. Within the past 6 months, I've quit gluten (besides beer, that is), corn, HFCS, nicotine, caffeine, and I've gotten a little bit more serious about exercising and meditation - so it's making less and less sense for me to drink. I don't want to be a drinker forever, and it's not who I am.
One of my biggest fears right now is the upcoming weekend - I don't want to rashly decide one of these nights that just because I don't have an apparent problem (or maybe I really
do after all), I can knock back the usual six pack and turn my brain off. Part of my brain might decide to entertain the idea, and I want to be able to firmly tell it, "No!".
How do you guys distract yourself from toying with the idea, especially in the beginning? This is day number five for me, currently, and I really want-to-want-to do it this time.