Originally Posted by
dwtbd 
Is it grey or gray ? hmm I think I use them based on mood.
Since threads are exercises in thinking and bouncing thoughts off one and other, lets go all the way white or black and ungre(a)y it.
How would it look or work if say a person that never personally identified any negative aspect of their alcohol consumption had decided to never , ever again consume alcohol? With specific respect to 'merely' abstaining from the physical actions of consumption, would those actions be different or similar to one who identified as having had some kind or degree of a 'bottom'?
I suspect what you're getting at is when it comes to behavior, there is no difference regardless of the motivation. But therein lies the rub - behavior or "physical actions" do not exist apart from thinking, feeling, and physiology. The person who doesn't drink because of, for example, a religious prohibition, is having a different experience than one who doesn't drink because prior drinking was problematic or at times unpleasant, even if the "physical actions" of not drinking look the same. Others don't drink because they are literally terrified it will lead to death or worse. The behavior of not lifting the bottle is black and white; the experience of the person not lifting the bottle ought not be oversimplified or prejudged.