The "switch" that's required to quit drinking permanently is a hard one for me to describe. I did temporarily quit for a little while several times before, but I did at least know in my heart that it wasn't for good, and that I would eventually go back to drinking.
That "something" that's different this time...I think it was a combination of things. My body was handling the alcohol worse and worse each time, and more now than ever before my mind had started to REALLY go downhill (as in, getting noticeably worse every WEEK. That fast.). I had also started chatting again with an old internet friend from before I really started hitting the bottle, and it forced me to take a hard look at the amount that had changed for me between then and now (almost all of it negative).
I know that they say you never really want to quit until you hit "rock bottom". I, admittedly, never had any serious problems in my life that could be considered this bad (unless you count the mental deterioration). I really feel no desire to drink any more...but I'm still kind of scared of the part of me that was so easily seduced by the alcohol in the first place. It makes me scared that I still haven't lost enough and that something (no idea what) in the future will drive me back into the arms of Lady Alcohol once again.