Alkaline

Had a conversation today with a fellow heavy drinker about cutting back vs quitting. I'm about 40 days sober and have no business judging anyone's choices, but I realized 2 basic truths: 1- the quality of life has improved in almost every regard. In other words, compared to heavy daily drinking, sober living is way better. 2- it gets easier every day, the first 3 or 4 days were the hardest.
So when my friend talked about just stopping during the week, I said, for me, that would just mean going through the most difficult part over and over.

Pipefish

Absolutely with you on that one. I cannot moderate, and trying is an exercise in futility and frustration for me personally.Sober living is, even when difficult, far preferable to a foot in both camps.

Congrats on 40 days

Anna

Yes, exactly.

I often say that when I accepted I couldn't drink anymore, my mind started to find healthy ways to deal with life. I couldn't have imagined that happening when I was at my bottom, but it did.

soberclover

I finally realized that I'm an alcoholic and cutting back isn't a reality for me. Once I really accepted that I cannot handle alcohol, my ability to get and continue to stay sober really kicked in. Awesome reminder!

MythOfSisyphus

If I could moderate it would never have occurred to me to seek out a place like SR! Drinking is a binary choice for me, OFF or ON. I can maybe have one, possibly two, but if I have a third it's a complete certainty that I'll drink til everything is gone or I'm ready to pass out.

I'm beginning to think that no one ever quits until they internalize this lesson.

1newcreation

When it finally sunk in me that I'm allergic to whiskey or any kind of booze for that matter, I sought a diffrent way to live. In sobriety have much more peace of mind, make better decisions(yeah can you believe my sanity is being restored daily...loh) & have quality friendships. Kudos to those that are able to "drink normally" coz I cannot

LBrain

If I could choose to drink at one particular point or another I wouldn't be sitting here reading this. And I certainly wouldn't have 'wasted' a couple hours of my Sunday evening going to a meeting.
I could not be a part time alcoholic. I'm either all in or all out.
I chose all out. I can't afford to lose everything on just one more spin.

badatbooze

Lbrain your last sentence nails the way I feel. I am afraid of alcohol ! It actually scares me

kiki1988

One of the realisations I have had that I am trying to remember every day is this:

All the benefits of drinking are short-term - they last two-three hours max

All of the benefits of not drinking are long-term - they last a lifetime

adams

Yea, this is so true and such a powerful idea. Thanks kiki

FortWorthsober

So true, LBrain! There's no 'part-time alcoholic.' I choose to be full-time sober. And that means I can be a full-time wife, mother, friend and PERSON.

freethinking

I find cutting back torture. This is slightly different, but I have "tapered" a couple of times in my vodka days because I was afraid of the DTs. To ONLY have a few drinks is just complete mental torture for me. I'd rather not have any than only be limited to a few.