TODAY is my ten year anniversary of being sober. Time sure does fly.
I remember that first year looking forward. It surely didn't fly by. It seemed like time crawled. That first year every time I drove by the liquor store a few blocks from home,I just stared at it like it held life's secrets inside there. I had a lot of help from this websight,and spent a LOT of time here.
There has been a lot of water under the bridge in those ten years.
My best friend in the world that I used to drink with died of liver cancer.
I myself had a bout with tongue cancer. Sooo many things have happened in those ten years that I really just don't know how I would have dealt with them if I hadn't stopped. I pretty much got fallen down drunk every day. Of course I waited till 5 o'clock before I started. But by 6 I was always well on my way to being blitzed come hell or high water.
When I quit I took the can of Miller Light from the 12 pack that was next in line from that night. I sat it right by the television so I could see it every day. It is there to remind me just how hard it was for me to quit.
I am looking at that can right now as I type. It's still there
Life was prison for me. Once I got off work I slammed beer all the way home. I was always over the legal limit by the time I drove my 30 mile trip home. So I was too drunk to go anywhere else or associate with anyone. So I really had no freedom. But all I had to do to unlock the door was not take that first drink. Every morning I would swear I wouldn't drink. After lunch I was starting to feel better. By three I was thinking a beer sounds pretty good and by 5 there was no contest. It was like groundhog day.
Shortly before I quit I realized I was averaging 8 beers on the way home. It was a 35 to 40 minute drive home. That comes to a beer every 5 minutes or less.
Quitting was undoubtedly one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. But it was also undoubtedly the best thing I have ever done.
If I can do it,anyone can. And I hope someone reads this and decides they can do it too.
I wish everyone the best
