Harry01854

For me it just got to the point that I was more desperate to want to live than to want to die.

karma79

There are a lot of reasons for me personally and there have been a lot of good ones in this thread. I personally think the key is that you have to find a reason yourself. I mean I don't know or anything, but that's what I had to do. I guess not everyone can find that one strong reason to quit.

Mine are basically these:
* My dad died from alcoholism at 47 (that's young...) and I was going down the same exact road.
* Being constantly hungover was no way to live my life. What a waste.
* Crashing cars in to mailboxes and not remembering it is freaking scary, man.
* I was starting to get mild health problems which are all gone now (little over 1 year sober)
* The constant need to have a drink before I did *anything* is gone. That was horrible. Sometimes I'd have to have a beer to even drive down the street!
* I still have some anxiety but it's like 1/10th as much as I had while I was drinking
* No more waking up and being embarrassed first thing in the morning. God I hated that.
* I put my beautiful girlfriend through hell for years ... I'm not sure how she put up with me.

My life is a 100 times better now than it used to be. I wouldn't go back to drinking for anything.

DayTrader

Over, to follow up on my earlier post (since I can't go back and edit it...grrrrr - lol).

I think.....if you're waiting for some "grand sign from above" or some moment of enlightenment to tell you NOW IS THE TIME.....you might just be waiting for something that will never happen. Perhaps all the motivation you're ever gonna get is whatever motivation you have at this moment. Ya know.....I don't think you NEED any more motivation. Hell, I didn't have ANY and I'm sober....and I'm sober because I did the work...not because I was necessarily motivated to do it. Motivation makes it more fun...and easier...but regardless of how fun or easy it is to get started, that doesn't negate the necessity of GETTING STARTED - perhaps in spite of any motivation to do so.

I think you'll find, like I did and still do today, that a lot of the stuff I (we) do in sobriety is done not because we want to (actually, I want to NOT do a lot of the stuff that I DO do) but because we realize we need to and we have to.

Che

You are speaking as if you want someone to quit alcohol for you... I have to tell you that the only person who can stop your drinking is you. Stop looking for a magic answer and put in the effort.

Part of adulthood is taking care of yourself. Hopefully someone you respect will tell you this.

overcomer32

Thanks for the responses....! I read every one and appreciate them all. I also thought this thread might help others who havent posted yet.

Che: I didnt think of it that way.... I want someone to quit for me? Thats interesting. If there was a way to do that, I probably would want that! Ha.

Hope to get more responses.

firestorm090

drinking made my life suck

Bellerophon

I loved being high on pot. Getting married and having children killed that. Pot is illegal and I don't want my kids growing up around it. As a Christian father of two, I turned more and more to drinking to get numb or escape. As a soi disant HFA, I rationalized it was my treat for being a stressed out but successful breadwinner.

I began to prefer to drink than do other things. Like Bush said, it began to compete for my affections. I got very good and very responsible at drinking. It was like I became a "professional drinker".

No one ever got hurt. There has never been any domestic drama. There has never been a DUI and I didn't even get drunk...just comfortably numb. But.

I like it too much...inside of me is the junkie waiting to bust out. I have been blessed by the Lord and lucky so far. I finally have decided to stop pushing my luck.

Hopefully, this time, it sticks...

Hopefully, I can be on the ant abuse long enough to break the habit.

Squizz

What motivated me to quit?

Jails, rehabs, detox, court, anger management courses, having no money, being in bad relationships, constantly feeling like garbage, feeling depressed to the point of being suicidal, losing jobs, constantly being irritable. Tons of stuff. I was constantly losing while drinking and drugging to the point where I was going insane. I started to think that I'd never live a "normal" life. And slowly but surely, I'm starting to get back to a normal way of living.

Bellerophon

I believe that the normal way of living in America is to HAVE a drinking problem. When I have had dry spells, I observed just how we are almost brainwashed into drinking. Everywhere there are ads. Forget military industrial complex, how about the alcohol industrial complex?

wes1

I felt like I was killing myself, but still could not stop. The turning point for me was when my wife came into my study one night and simply told me to stop drinking (I drank heavily for 20 years) because she and my 2 kids needed me. I've been sober for 5 months and have no desire to drink.

oak

I suppose I think about what I like about sobriety, what I cannot do safely if I am drunk or hungover. I also remind myself of the dangers of drinking and what I don't like about drinking (hangovers, worried friends, etc.). I'm in early sobriety, but this is also what I did when I was trying to motivate myself to stop.

Reading science articles helps me. Understanding the affects of alcohol in the body. And looking at brain scans. It helps me to know what alcohol use and sobriety does to a brain. Helps make it tangible.

I have been ambivalent about stopping, maybe because I stopped very early before I had huge external problems. Since I am ambivalent, I work at reminding myself of the benefits of being sober and the risks of being drunk.

I ask myself what would my perspective be when I am very old and on my deathbed or a few minutes after death. Would I think that I should have drank more? I doubt it. From this perspective, treating my body and soul well seems important.

There are lots of alternative recovery programs, other than AA. There's a sticky about alternatives on one of these forums. (SMART, RR, SOS, WFS) But, of course, lots of people stop without meetings. And stay stopped.

CarolD

Bellerophon....Welcome to our recovery community ..

Wishing you all the best sobriety brings
to you and your family.....

GettingStronger2

Interesting post. I know what the final straw was.. .thankfully it was a scare more than anything else. But beofre that, I knew I had to quit. I knew I was done. I could no longer drink the way I was drinking and continue to live. It was taking my life from me. ..slowly at first, but gaining speed.

I was simply done.

I hear you that you are not an AA guy. I am not much for groups or social things. . .but i love AA. It has saved my life. Being around a bunch of people who know what it is like to be an alcoholic, to know what it is like to lose control of your life because of alcohol, who do not judge, who have been through what i have been through, well, I wouldn't trade it it for anything.

Bugzer

that was beautifully said, thanks

Soberliner

What motivated me to quit is realizing why i drank in the first place. I've been avoiding issues that just piled up. I decided to quit in 2003. Now my problem is slips once or twice a year since then. After my last slip costed me a DUI. I've realized i have to work on keeping my thoughts in check when i feel the need to slip again. Thoughts has to be believed by the soul for the thoughts to work. The soul diffidently strives on impuleses. Ok i lost my train of thought. lol I'm done. take care Ya'all...

least

I was sick to death of myself and my life and also sick of waking up feeling horrible and hating myself. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I'd tried and failed sobriety too many times and felt like a cat on her ninth life. I wasn't sure I had any more recovery in me and didn't want to find out the hard irreversable way. I was afraid that if I fell off the wagon one more time the wheels would run over me and kill me.

overcomer32

Thanks again, everyone. I really appreciate the responses. I intend to print them all out and put them in my purse, and REALLY READ them each time I "feel like" drinking.

I also found some AA meetings on certain nights that will work for me, and printed out those lists.

As someone pointed out, yes, Ive been on this board awhile (here and there).... still not sober. Pretty sad. I was 32 when I signed up, and I just turned 37.

I know Im running outta time..... to quit and STAy quit. I am ambivalent about stopping for good but its at the point where it really doesnt matter if i want to stop for good or not, i MUST.

I'd appreciate any words of support and encouragement.


Thanks for listening,


Drunk

Bugzer

if you want it bad enough you can achieve it, that's what I believed
when I finally quit and what I believe now is that I never wanna
go back to that hell.

hearnerules

I think it was time after 4 arrests, 1 case of alcohol poisoning, and probably 200 cases of "how did I survive that"

AWOL

This is a retrospective answer because the result confirmed that my motivation was on track. I was motivated by the belief that i could start living again; that life would be better; that i could rise above the depression of a failed marriage and a serious illness.
My motivation was a belief that i could achieve these things if i stopped drinking just one day at a time. Eight months later, i have started living in a manner that has exceeded all my expectations; i am still alone but i am happy. The depression has lifted and i feel empowered by life and the knowledge that although i'm far from perfect, this one accomplishment has made sense of my life, given me vision, and made me smile for the first time in years. Thanks to my HP and the fellowship of individuals who have freely offered their help and encouragement on SR.