ImReadyToQuit

Never accomplished that before... Day 1 again..

Something I heard somewhere, a guy goes to his priest and says to him, I think I'm an alcoholic.. The priest said, stop drinking for 90 days. If you can do that you're not an alcoholic...

I haven't managed 90 straight days before.. So thats gonna be my goal.. Supposedly the trick behind the 90 thing is at the end of the 90 days, you won't want to drink again anyhow..

I usually get held up around 1.5 months or 2 tops..

Anyhow, wish me luck.

Freyakitty

First of all, congratulations on the days that you did make it - those count! Do you have a plan to get you to the 90 days and beyond? So many here with more experience than me say that it's not the drinking it's the thinking so how are you going to transform your thoughts towards sobriety? If you are just counting down the days (to day 90) then you are really playing a will power game but recovery (as I'm sure you know) is so much more than that! Good luck!

ZZworldontheweb

Yes, keep trying, that is key.

CarolD

The idea of 90 days came from treatment centers...who
consider it takes 90 days to replace a bad habit with a good one

Your previous sober time shows that you know how to quit
the key is to find a way to stay that way.

Welcome back....

ImReadyToQuit

I've tried so many things except I didn't do the medications (anabus) ect. I really don't wanna do that.. But a 90 day goal would be awesome... I figured out 2010 and had about 3/4ths of the year were sober days..

It sorta feels like I'm winding down slowly if that makes sense.. I wound up to be an daily binge drinker. Took years..

I never have problems with quitting, its just staying that way... No detox problems, although I've mastered the regimine of what I need for them.. Either way.. I have a busy day.. I'll be checking in.. I haven't posted much, but I log on here everyday.. Sober or otherwise.

CarolD

I'm not speaking about whatever med's you take or what
your doctor may suggest

I am saying...lifestyle changes in areas might be called for.
My recovery required many....and they all worked out to my benefit.

Reset

I have hard goals and soft goals, if that makes sense. 90 days and 1 year are my soft goals. Soft in the sense of, "well let's get closer to that time and see where things stand, but it would be great." Also 90 days coincides with a big family vacation we've been planning for almost a year.

Hard goals are more like, "I HAVE to get through this next 30 minutes."

LexieCat

90 days isn't a magic number. If I had to stay sober for 90 days, knowing I could drink again, I would have been able to do it. But the knowing that I had to stay sober for "only 90 days" would have me craving booze for the last two weeks of the 90, and I would be off to the races.

What worked for me was making alcohol NOT AN OPTION, ever, under any and all circumstances. We can only stay sober a day at a time, but I certainly INTEND never to drink again, because I know where it will land me.

So I mark the milestones (I don't count days or months anymore, but I sure enjoy those year coins), but I don't set goals other than not drinking under any and all circumstances.

newby1961

Thats a new one on me now I have heard do 90 in 90 in regards to meetings. I agree with another post if I thought all i had to do is stop for 90 days and I could drink again then duh its easy to make it till then. Thats not recovery that"s sheer will power, coupled w/white knuckling it. Stopping drinking/using is only the start of recovery, there are a whole lot more you have to do to reap the benifits of recovery. This thing is lethal and if its just a game then why play head games with yourself?


The best way to find yourself is losing yourself in the service of others.
Ghandi

oakleaf82

Well it is great to be looking at 90 days and re evaluating yourself at that time. But forget about how many days you have for a minute; because that is not really the point. You need to be actively working to change your life if you want this to be successful. Replacing your drinking with positive things, building up a support system and letting people know you are quitting, working on yourself to change your thinking process so that at the end of 90 days you aren't in the exact same place you were before.

yeahgr8

Does the joke with the priest end like this...

So the guy finally manages 90 days, him and the priest pat each other on the back, and some years later the priest is down to do a funeral one Sunday morning, he recognises the guy's name and so asks a family member what happened to him and the family member says he drank himself to death...the priest asks if he couldn't have gone to AA and the family member answers "Oh no, he wasn't that bad!"...

That old one hey;-)

Dee74

I'm sorry you fell IRTQ.

I have to be honest - my problem was not fixed with 90 days sobriety.
Recovery's not an event - it's a journey to me.

It took work, it took commitment, and it took a willingness to change myself and my life far beyond just not drinking.

Most of all it took an acceptance - if I wanted to be the person I wanted to be, and have the kind of life I wanted, I could never drink again.

I went for an all day everyday drinker of some years standing to nearly 4 years now.
It's possible to not only get sober but stay that way - for good IRTQ

D

TheEnd

I'm a little over 4 months now and if you think everything is smooth sailing after 90 days, then you have another thing coming to you.

Instead of thinking about making 90 days, why don't you just worry about today, then the next day do the same thing......Repeat.....Repeat....Repeat.....

Kmber2010

Ima, Glad you are back and you have our support.

Really good info in this thread. I urge you to move beyond a goal of 90 days sober but to look at getting a plan in place to learn to live without alcohol. Having face to face support was the missing piece for me.....not the ability to stay off the sauce. I had to change me and my outlook on everything in life. I wasn't able to do that without accepting what I was and reaching out and doing the work in my recovery.

Keep it going and I hope you look at the many support options out there. I am grateful for everything I have because I have made and continue to make positive change.

There is a better way for us to live.

leo21

I don't wanna scare you but I was beyond 90 days up until recently. You simply can't let your guard down after a "period of time".

Unfortunately, for me at least, it will take me being vigilient and for the rest of my life.

DayTrader

......and it's the "staying quit" part that's the most important. I couldn't do it either (stay stopped). Sooner or later, enough pressure would build up, and I'd get loaded.

--reminds me of a Seinfeld episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S67oEll2Azs


The other truth I realized was the each day I wasn't drinking was no bed of roses either. I'd stop.....get progressively more miserable (not just over booze either)....then drink again. The drinking relieved the pressure for that part of that day but then it seemed to stack more weight onto the following days.

Shoot man, that's no way to live. I dunno if that's what you're experiencing or not but if it is..... it REALLY doesn't have to be like that. IF that's how it's been, I highly suggest changing up your methods / trying something different.

CarolD

My experience with time.....

Very early on I somehow got the idea that if I stayed sober
twice as long as I had been an active alcoholic...I would have recovered.


Sooo...5 years=10 years....that was my goal.

I committed myself to God and AA....and Yes! I was recovered
by the end of 10 years. Not sure when it happened exactly.
The past 11 since then have been even more awesome.


Don't settle for anything less than a fantastic sober life.

DayTrader

! ! ! !

I'd add...that if you DO try to settle for anything less you won't be happy and we all know what we do when we're not happy for too long..... we go back to drinking because that gets us happy - for a little while.

SSIL75

Good to 'see' you again. Everyone has different tricks but I didn't have a hope of staying sober until I accepted 'forever'. Not 28 days or 90 days or until my baby is born. Just.. "never - now what?". Then I could begin building a new life.

Hang in there.

cabledude

Good to have a target to shoot for. Plus, the neighborhood will be safer for 90 days, nothing wrong with that.