Cohiba, great job on 29 days. The birthday party went fine for me. Really stuck to my sober plan and it worked. It was apparent to me how much more in control most of my friends are than I am as at the end of the evening, they were all sitting around, very buzzed and singing along as one of my buddies played some songs on the guitar. Had I been drinking, I'd have been hammered by that point and encouraging others to drink more. Instead, I just enjoyed singing along while totally sober, then got home, watched some Jeopardy on DVR and went to bed. Was nice waking up hangover and regret free on Sunday.
I'll be honest, I'm not even going to open that article. I've tried to convince myself far too many times that I don't have a problem with alcohol. I never drank every day, I never drank before lunch, I managed to moderate about half the time, etc. I just know that alcohol leads to outcomes I don't like and no alcohol doesn't lead down that dark path.
I see that coke is tops on your mind and that may well be the issue you need to kick and you can drink in moderation. For me, I can gamble and smoke pot in moderation and I have friends who can't do either. For me, that vice is alcohol.
If it's just coke for you, then I wish you the best in kicking that expensive habit. But if you have even a doubt that it's alcohol that's a problem, then don't try tricking your mind into thinking you don't have a problem.