Originally Posted by
HollyIvy 
Hi all.
For years I've been struggling with alcohol addiction. I've got to the stage where I know I must give up for good. Everyday for so long I have tried not to have a drink but I just can't do it. I've even walked 3 miles in a storm to put my AV at bay.
I thought maybe if I chat I might be able to get through today sober. I really hope that this can be day one.
Thank you.
I've been there.
The biggest support for my eventual success was my own shift of thinking.... from "Need" to "Want".
From "I HAVE to STOP" - to "I WANT to START".
I wonder if you'd be up for an experiment: Every day and all day, shift your words, your thoughts and your focus to the positive. Begin envisioning a life of sobriety. Begin envisioning all of the good that will bring. Begin always saying "I WANT TO LIVE A SOBER LIFE". If you catch yourself saying, thinking, writing or otherwise leaning toward the scarcity mentality of "I HAVE to do this...." take that moment to consciously correct yourself.... "No.... I don't HAVE to. I'm fully free to carry on destroying my life and missing out on its richness.... but I PREFER, I CHOOSE to live in full presence and wholeness in this cherished life".
For an added bonus, begin a list of people - famous people, everyday people, people you know, people you've heard about - who are living a life of sobriety. Keep that list handy, learn the stories of those people, what they were then, who they are now, how their worlds have changed and how they're each contributing to positive change in the world.
Begin to relentlessly paint yourself a beautiful picture of inspiration.
For me, that made all the difference. Not that it isn't instructive and healing to look at the negatives and to acknowledge the things you may need to process, let go of, make amends for.... but I found that until I shifted to the inspiration of a life I truly, deeply WANTED - I just kept on relapsing.
You can do this.