chapter 3 in the big book tells the story of a man whose danger point was thirty years. He stopped drinking because of the negative effect on his work, and not until he retired did he have another drink. He was unable to stop again and was dead within 4 years.
The milestones for me were when the monkeys came off my back. The crazy thinking, the memories, the fears of the past catching up with me. The biggest I guess was the sense of freedom resulting from step nine, and of course the alcohol problem being removed. Those were milestones that really meant something.
When I was just trying to abstain, hanging on for dear life, counting the ever so slowly passing miserable days, that was really no more than an attempt at control, and I always lost control. Freedom turned out to be a much better deal.