LexieCat

Those mental battles can be pretty exhausting.

It became a lot easier when I quit fighting it. AA worked a lot better for me than trying to talk myself out of a drink, or into sobriety.

tooling

This place isn't for me.

I'm a man that believes in inner strength.

I'm out.

Thanks anyways.

RobertHugh

And how's that working out for you so far?

tooling

This isn't the kind of support forum i am looking for. I was asked to go ahead and talk throughout the weekend, I did, I didn't drink this weekend and I am ridiculed for my willpower?

This just isn't my cup of tea. That's all. I was looking for friends who understand, nothing more.

Chakra

Tooling, pls don't let a couple of opinions keep you from coming back. We'd love to be supportive with you. I hope that you will find the right Forum on this sight which blends with your viewpoint as many of ours differ. Many of us are not using AA but find strength via other options. At the end of the day, whatever works to keep YOU sober is nothing you have to explain or apologize for. I wish you the best of luck and hope you will keep posting.

LexieCat

Who ridiculed you?

I was telling you my own experience--that mental struggles over drinking wore me out.

If they don't wear you out, fine. I'll be the first to say, AA isn't for everybody, and it isn't the only way to get sober. But it would be a little silly to come onto a support forum and not expect people to share what worked for them. That's all we can do, really. I can't share with you how to quit drinking by sheer willpower because it didn't work for me.

Good luck, hope you come back if you feel you need some help.

RobertHugh

I suspect he thinks I was ridiculing him by asking, "How's that working out for you?"

I've always been asked this question in my recovery whenever I decided that willpower was going to work for me.

But it's a sincere question. How is willpower and inner strength serving you in your desire to get sober? Forget about God and higher powers for a second-- it's not my point. When you look at the sum of the decisions you've made, and how they've worked out with you in charge, how does it look?

Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.

You will get all sorts of advice on here, from folks who think recovery is about willpower to those who believe God strikes us sober. I'm dealing with the very basic question that's embedded in the first step:

Can you stop drinking on your own willpower?

If you believe you can on any level, go do it and let me know how it goes. One thing this forum most certainly is is open to any means of arresting drinking.

LexieCat

Most of us can't simply take someone else's word for it, though. I think most of us had to try what worked for us in the past in tackling other personal issues. Drinking is different, obviously, but I don't believe I've ever encountered someone in AA who didn't have to try other solutions first.

I'm still in contact with some friends who are still struggling to moderate their drinking. The only advice I give them is to be as honest with themselves as they can. If they find they are consistently struggling and failing to achieve what they are trying to do, it isn't a personal failure to say "I can't drink." And then, if they decide they can't drink, and still aren't having success going it alone, there's another way that works for many of us.