To Beer or Not to Beer
 

that is the question... Phew, was a rough choice today watching a great playoff football game. chose wisely and stuck with diet pepsi and so am 13 days into sobriety without faltering. Even though it was tempting to pop one, I think i am now realizing that i have the willpower to stop at one or two instead of guzzling six with 3 or 4 shots of liquor to boot. So if I fall off the wagon in a social setting, it will be a drop and roll controlled fall as opposed to the no-hands flat fall on the face i normally would do on my way to a drunken stupor. Abstinence is the preferred state for me from now on, occasional modest social indulgence of a cold beer shall not be a reason to beat myself up or take my eye off the prize

What changed in 13 days that might lead you to believe this?

I remember I would sometimes equate my ability to remain sober with control over alcohol.

It's not the same thing, as I found to my cost.

I remove alcohol from the equation, I'm good - if I reintroduce the element of alcohol?
all my old problems, my old inability to control, all the stuff I was glad to be rid of, returned.

There is no 'one or two' for me...although of course I often managed that after a return to drinking...but it didn't last.

Personally, I'd be careful obxtacy...really careful...

D

If your decision to drink is based on a football game, then I'm not sure why you quit in the first place. What I mean is, for me to drink means to die. If I pick up, I will kill myself, because I won't stop. It doesn't matter who is playing or what is going on in my life. I must stick with my decision if I won't to keep on keeping on.

Willpower doesn't work for alcoholics. Not for the long haul. How I wanted it to be so! Almost lost my life proving that after the first one goes down, dangerous & unpredictable things are likely to happen.

Glad you came here to talk it out.

Thanks for the feedback. Not sure i will or will not pick up a beer, it's one day at a time for me right now. Watching a football game with friends is a social setting in which i have many times drank in the past. the last few weeks have opened my eyes to sobriety and i am enjoying the change in my outlook on the world. I know i will not go back to the level of drinking i once inflicted on myself. At the same time, an occasional beer or glass of wine is not the end of the world to me. if this is a mistake, it's something i need to learn about myself. treading carefully, i know the ice is thin. again, thanks for the feedback and concern.

Ive made the same mistake going from four days to zero days sober and I regret everytime I do it ... done many times ... to many to count. I think I can drink casually but after a couple beers with friends I leave their house an head to the store to finish the buzz by myself at home ... addiction sucks, it just ends up spiraling down to the depths everytime

You are right, it is something you will have to learn for yourself. The fact that most all of us have attempted to cut back, monitor, etc., and the fact that it never works for long is all true, but isn't really convincing to someone else if that someone else wants to drink.

There was a time when almost all of us would have touched a bench with a "Wet Paint" sign on it. ;)

will power???? good luck with that. alcohol will always win if we could control it would we be posting hear? " 1 or 2" beers its the first one that gets you drunk. it,s all about choices we only lose choice when we drink.

So true ... so unfortunately true

Control is something I'm able to do, however, unlike the others who were drinking with me and enjoying a chat or a sports event, I was putting so much effort into control that I didn't enjoy my beer. If I don't drink the first beer now, I am more relaxed and fun to be around.

While quite possibly very true, I for one will never encourage this or even condone it. It is far too easy to tell someone to try some more controlled drinking, knowing perfectly well that they will be brought to their knees. Once someone has crossed a line from normal drinker to problem drinker, they are most likely out of luck. I don't care if they are a hard drinker, fake alcoholic, real alcoholic, or any other variation of drinker. They would do well to simply quit drinking for good and stop playing Russian roulette, which puts not only their own welfare at risk, but likely that of many others as well.

You may certainly be different but I was thinking this exact thing on the 1st of this month, after more than a month sober. I had 1 weak bloody mary and it turned into 6 straight, 24 hour round the clock, vodka shot drinking days. Just be careful bud.

Everyone can't learn from other people's mistakes. Life is not that easy. At least it wasn't for me, and it doesn't appear to be that way for many other people either. You have to truly believe and know in your heart that you have a problem. You can't just take someone's word for it. This is just one step on the journey to sobriety.

If you don't take a chance of touching the wet paint, you will never know that it was wet in the first place.

Ive been enjoying all sorts of social things...including watching football
without any alcohol for a long time.

I do hope you will continue to stay sober...it's such a grand way to live..:yup: