Originally Posted by
melki 
In my case, I knew for years there was a problem. And I tried to mitigate it for years. What finally prompted a life-altering decision was admitting I will never be able to moderate alcohol. Never. So "I will never drink again and I will never change my mind". That was my mantra in the early days. This forum and all your stories and support helped tremendously. Thank you, SR.
Yep. This was it for me, exactly. I was so afraid of the change I knew I had to make. My entire social lifevinvolved alcohol. All of my friends drink. My family drinks. The town I live in is all about socializing at the tavern. I thought I'd lose all of my friends and be completely alone and miserable. But I got to a point where I knew I had to make the change, regardless of those possibilities. Or I'd kill myself eventually. I'd die in a car crash, die just from drinking, or kill myself.
Has this much change been easy? No. Has it been fun? Not much. Did it result in all of the things I was afraid of? NO! I still have friends. I still socialize. I'm not all alone and miserable.
I'm still working on changes. I want to meet some new sober friends. I want to get out and do more fun activities that don't involve any drinking, by anyone. I want to have adventures. I want to get a job. I want to get out of debt. I want to feel more comfortable in my own skin. I want to stop feeling bad about the past. It's a lot. Is it too much? Hello no. In sobriety, these changes are not only possible, they are already happening.
I know a lot of you don't do AA, but my very favorite thing in the Big Book is the Promises. Google it. If you never read another word of the big book, this is worth reading. It's a hopeful message, and something I go back to often.