DueSouth

Is it ever acceptable to set yourself a date in the future to quit drinking?

Has anyone had any experience in doing that?

suki44883

Not sure what you mean by "acceptable." Any way that works is acceptable. The main question, I think, would be, why not start today?

Lushwell

We have one element of time.

It's called right now.

All I can tell you about a future time and date is that it will probably come.

Eddiebuckle

I did - my drinking had progressed to the point where I doubted that I could physically make it without drinking for the week I had to wait to get into treatment. The risk is (of course) that it's easy to find excuses to postpone for "just a little longer" and you never actually stop drinking. I intentionally made my decision known to my boss and family, so the cat was out of the bag and I couldn't avoid my date with destiny without likely losing my job and serious repurcussions with the ones I love.

If you have a truly legitimate reason to delay, fine. But to put it off because it's inconvenient (I went into treatment four days before Christmas) is BS - you have to be honest with yourself. This truly is a matter of life or death, treat it accordingly.

Best wishes for your sobriety,
Edd

BoozeFree

I have tried the oh next week I'll quit and did that for about a year before I just woke up one day and decided enough was enough. So for me, no that never worked.

NEOMARXIST

Do what you want but the reality of doing that is that ultimately you probably haven't reached the point where you're totally beaten by booze and 100% accept yourself as an alcoholic and that drinking simply cannot be an option for you if you want anything in your life to improve. I know that would have been the case for this alcoholic.

There is never any easy time to give the booze up and ultimately today is the only day that matters. Alcoholism is progressive so it will always get worse and never better; but only if you're an alcoholic of course.

Accepting myself as an alcoholic was essential at being able to remain gratefully sober and living in England. Too many excuses otherwise as afterall 85% of people drink, but they ain't alkies like me...

All The Best

Ghostly

I picked a date to quit DueSouth. I knew I needed / wanted to quit. I looked at my calendar. I had some weekends with extra days off and some other things. I knew realistically...I would drink during these times. That if I quit, I would probably start up again. I picked a date about 3-4 weeks out and quit. 8+ months later haven't picked back up.

Now...This seems kinda unique. I'd recommend getting a support system and quitting. Do it now. If you do pick a date though...stop on that date. Good luck and keep us posted.

totfit

I think probably most people that quit have at one time or another picked a date in the future to quit, likely several of them. There is no right or wrong way to quit, especially if you can stay stopped. I caution you however that a lot of things can go wrong prior to that date no matter how near or far in the future it may be. I personally had a car accident and DUI the day before I was heading to treatment. My quit date was going to be "tomorrow" and well......

We all contemplate quitting prior to doing so (typically) as contemplation is one of the stages of quitting. Once again there is no right or wrong way. Just know that if you are like me and can't successfully drink moderately, then that day can actually be a day of relief.

ClosetExtrovert

Absolutely. I did that about 50 times.

Antiderivative

Sure, its "acceptable" and even feasible, but you are also dealing with addiction where you could very easily rationalize, minimalize, and make excuses for the next drink.

With addiction, you get caught in a cycle in which it is very tough to break away from. It seems like you have a great opportunity here. You have broken away from that cycle and have the gift of desperation. I wouldn't **** all over this wonderful opportunity.

Speaking for myself, the only times I ever got serious about sobriety is when the pain got too great. I could set future dates and be genuine about it, but I wouldn't stick to my promise, unless the pain was still there. I would rationalize, minimalize, and make excuses for another drink.

LaFemme

I did that a million times. The last time I did it I picked the day after the World Cup ended...the day after the world cup ended I was sicker than I'd ever been before (hmmmm, must have been all of that time at the pub watching the WC)....still, I bought a bottle of wine that night...problem was, couldn't drink it, and I haven't had a drink since.

It takes all kinds, however, I know that many of the times I picked a future day to quit it was simply procastination.

yeahgr8

I did this a lot...as long as it wasn't today i was very positive about being able to quit;-)

Vanilla28

LOL that made me laugh.

duesouth, are you thinking of setting a later date because of all the holiday stuff going on and new years? etc

stanleyhouse

Everybody must pick a time in the future to quit. It's just that some of us don't really get to choose what time that is. The kid who crashes and wakes up a paraplegic with a constant caregiver, he'll probably never drink again. The husband who threatens to shoot his wife while intoxicated, but instead gets shot dead by her, he'll never drink again.
I was told to maintain until October 4th, 2009. On October 5th I woke up to sobriety, in treatment, where I could be safely detoxed.
Save some years, save your body, choose today.
sh

Dee74

Hi duesouth

Yeah my day was always tomorrow - there may be something in the fact that the day I ultimately quit I stopped that very day

D

Untoxicated

DueSouth,

Please take a look at this thread...it may contain the answer you seek.

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ys-option.html

TheNile

I guess for me the past is forever gone, the future will never come, we only have the present. The future and the past are mental projections and do not exist outside of our minds. This also causes me problems when I try to plan for my health ahead of time, like quitting drinking. So living in the moment is a double-edged sword.

DueSouth

Yes, absolutely. I realise that there is no good time to quit, but it does seem much harder than usual at this time.

I've been working from home this whole week therefore effectively avoiding friends festive get-togethers. Can't quite bring myself to tell them about the need for sobriety just yet. Embarrassed i guess - but i know they will understand. All i know is that I am gagging for a drink.

Tomorrow will be a great test. No doubt it will be a test for a lot of us here.

Going to midnight mass tonight in my snowy little local church. I'm not very religious but feel the need to go and I'll say a little prayer for those of us who need it.

Merry Christmas everyone

M - 1