GnikNus

Fill in the blank:

Alcohol destroys...

dox

.

. . . absolutely nothing.

.

Della1968

For me everything

2ndhandrose

my spirit
my mind
my body
my self-esteem
my confidence
my relationships
my opportunities
my memories
my hope
my joy

thomas11

Alcohol destroys....only if you let it.

Doug39

It is the same theory as the gun issue. Guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Alcohol use is fine if a person has an occasional drink.

ScottFromWI

While that may be true, in the context of our forum no one here can have an "occasional drink". For me alcohol destroyed a lot of things...fortunately I found a solution to it.

Doug39

Well of course nobody here should drink if it is a problem.

I could never have one drink. for me it was get loaded or nothing.

but there are actual people who can drink like one beer a month. I envy that type of control.

entropy1964

There's a gal in my AA meeting that introduces herself as 'I'm an alcoholic and Mary is my problem'. Her name is Mary, obviously. So, I'm the destroyer.

But I know what you're saying.

ScottFromWI

The majority of people have that kind of "control". We ( alcoholics ) are the minority by a long shot. I used to envy those who weren't like me too but in the end it mostly just led to resentments and didn't help at all. Accepting that I am who I am and being OK with it was a tremendous help.

zjw

I dunno for me it snuck up on me. What many would just consider someone getting older or "he just likes his beer" or thats life its stressful or your not getting any younger. ALl these sorts of thigns are the type of thigns one might have said about me or me about myself as I gained weight struggled to get upt he stairs was tired or tried to figure out how to fit beer into the budget. It didnt break me over night and I never realized how bad off i was as a heavy drinker till I had plenty of sober time under my belt. It was at that point I realized it robbed me of my health. It was a contributer to my morbid obesity. My inablity to quit seemed to go hand and hand with my inablity to quit smoking as well. Any drive I once head to do antyhign even remotely good for me (eat a healthy meal go for a walk or even just toss the football around) was totally gone. The list goes on I just never really realized it till long after I had sobered up.

zjw

yeah I envy people that can drink like that too. But I also realize they probably have some other problems that perhaps I'd rather not have or am glad I do not have.

My problems might stink but they are at least mine and i'm used to dealing with them. I hear about others problems and realize I porbably coudlnt handle many of those. This hten makes me glad for the ones i got they fit me i guess.

Forward12

It would depend on who you ask. To a "normal" person, they would likely say nothing, but to a drunk, it would be everything.

entropy1964

I don't envy people that can have a beer once a month. I can only envy something that I wish to attain, or can maybe have some understanding of. I have zero desire to have a beer once a month. I like getting wasted. Hence the reason I'm an alcoholic I wish I could drink all the time with zero (and I mean zero) consequences. The pipe dream of the alcoholic.

GnikNus

Semantics aside, the "target audience" of the post doesn't fall into the "occasional drink" category. My intent was to create a "laundry list" of things that would likely happen if we picked up that first drink now that the holidays are upon us and the temptation is there- and justified in light of the fact that "everyone else is drinking, so why can't I," etc. That list, stacked against the fleeting pleasure of a drink, might make us give pause to the idea of indulging.

HopeandFaith1

Alcohol taken in excess destroys a body, it truly does. Like a lot of people, when I was young I had a beautiful body and good health that I didn’t have to work that hard for. Then I went on a 20 year drinking binge and over time I lost my beautiful body and my health. I gained, at my heaviest, about 75 pounds and suffered from chronic high blood pressure, obesity, pre-diabetes, ulcers, chronic stomach upset, headache and dehydration – all at the age of 42!

I ended the war on my body 162 days ago. Not a nip, not a sip, not a drop has passed my lips. My blood pressure is normal. I have lost 25 pounds. When I go to the doctor now, they remark that my health is good, which didn’t happen for a very long time.

I thank God every day. It is good to be free. Alcohol might not destroy normal people, but addiction will take away everything you love and leave you with everything you don’t. God bless and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Doug39

I could have wrote this.

I went on a 27 year binge, take 2 meds for high blood pressure, am borderline diabetic and I am overweight which ended up giving me sleep apnea. I quit drinking 30 days ago and I have already dropped 20 pounds.

rubythrill

Serenity

HopeandFaith1

Way to go Doug39! 30 days is an exciting milestone. I wish you many more sober, healthy days!!

tnman1967

What finally lifted my spirits (no pun intended), was the fact that when I came to the realization that alcohol does nothing positive for me and that I saw a lot of people who are so called normal drinkers not really having that much fun or even gaining anything from drinking except, stupidity, weight and debt. Why would I envy that? Once you get to accept that alcohol is nothing to glamorize then you can move on. If someone wants to drink, great for them but I sure don't miss it. I actually get anxiety just thinking about the awful things drinking led to. I still struggle with forgetting the thirty plus years of hell I was in. Your mileage may wary. I'm not on a moral high ground, just happy here in the states when it's Thanksgiving, that I can enjoy life without the misery of drinking.