One Year and Under Club Part 56
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,180
Good evening all!
Going down to nearly freezing tonight but a mini return to summer next week.
I am re applying for new life insurance coverage and my agent listed me as a non drinker since I haven't drank in 18 months. Hopefully, I can save a bit on my policy!
Sweet dreams everyone!
Going down to nearly freezing tonight but a mini return to summer next week.
I am re applying for new life insurance coverage and my agent listed me as a non drinker since I haven't drank in 18 months. Hopefully, I can save a bit on my policy!
Sweet dreams everyone!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 473
Evening Everyone!
Another Sober Sunday Morning coming up. I love those. I love working in my office at 6am when everyone else is asleep.
When I took the dogs for a walk today that old AV started piping up about how you shouldn't give up drinking forever as it "wasn't right" in some way.
For the first time since I stopped I can honestly say I'm happier without drink. I often think of having "a beer", but going back to all that drama seems, well...... unappealing.
I think in some way my past has caught up with me. I did all that "all day drinking" stuff years ago. It seems laughable that I would get in a minibus with fifteen other lads and head off to another city to sit in a different pub.
Drinking all day Sundays, drinking when the football was on, drinking, drinking drinking.
I'm coming to terms with my "not drinking". It seems that a lot of my similar age group have also realised the damage they were doing to their lives.
Steve Earle, Tom Waits!!, Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, John Thompson (Cold Feet), Clapton, Bowie (RIP), Chris Martin (Coldplay) all sober. It seems whenever I look someone up these days they are sober.
The most bizarre one of all for me was Tom Waits because I fell in love with his bar room blues and I'd often spend entire evenings with his music and beer and Jack Daniels.
To then find out he's been sober after I imagined him sitting on his porch drinking bourbon for the last 20 years was a real shock.
I'm content being sober. And if it's good enough for the likes of Weller, Waits and Steve Earle then it's going to be good enough for me.
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Another Sober Sunday Morning coming up. I love those. I love working in my office at 6am when everyone else is asleep.
When I took the dogs for a walk today that old AV started piping up about how you shouldn't give up drinking forever as it "wasn't right" in some way.
For the first time since I stopped I can honestly say I'm happier without drink. I often think of having "a beer", but going back to all that drama seems, well...... unappealing.
I think in some way my past has caught up with me. I did all that "all day drinking" stuff years ago. It seems laughable that I would get in a minibus with fifteen other lads and head off to another city to sit in a different pub.
Drinking all day Sundays, drinking when the football was on, drinking, drinking drinking.
I'm coming to terms with my "not drinking". It seems that a lot of my similar age group have also realised the damage they were doing to their lives.
Steve Earle, Tom Waits!!, Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, John Thompson (Cold Feet), Clapton, Bowie (RIP), Chris Martin (Coldplay) all sober. It seems whenever I look someone up these days they are sober.
The most bizarre one of all for me was Tom Waits because I fell in love with his bar room blues and I'd often spend entire evenings with his music and beer and Jack Daniels.
To then find out he's been sober after I imagined him sitting on his porch drinking bourbon for the last 20 years was a real shock.
I'm content being sober. And if it's good enough for the likes of Weller, Waits and Steve Earle then it's going to be good enough for me.
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Location: US East Coast
Posts: 14,286
So true, SG! I think we all want that peace but when we are in the midst of drinking, it can be really hard to find our way there. I am so grateful to the many people who helped me along the way. It just keeps on getting better.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 473
I've been duped.
The interest on alcohol is worse than a payday lender.
Depression and anxiety, skin disorders, the mental health issues I stored up. All the price to pay for a quick fix that turned into one long self medicating disaster.
The real cost of drinking has nothing to do with the price tag.
I don't see this as an "alcoholic" problem. Anyone who drinks is at risk of becoming addicted. I mean if you kept injecting someone with heroin they'd become a heroin addict. Just like Doyle in "The French Connection 2"
keep drinking beer and you'll become addicted to it. Anyone that can drink "just one" is playing with fire. I don't believe there is a disease called "alcoholism". Some people just kept drinking until they get addicted to drinking alcohol. It's inevitable and it could happen to anyone.
The problem isn't that some people don't have an "off switch" the problem is that it's socially acceptable to drink. Encouraged by relentless advertising and brainwashing.
Give someone who doesn't drink, enough alcohol on a daily basis and they'll become addicted to it. How can they not? Alcohol chemically changes the brain and your physical make up.
Some people say they don't like the taste. Well no one likes the taste, which is why they mask it with orange juice, cordial or coca cola. You learn to like the taste of beer so you can get your alcohol fix.
Call it a moment of clarity, an enlightenment moment. It's only something I can relate to because I don't drink anymore. If I pick up another beer it'll start the whole process off again. It's inevitable and it's so obvious it's staring me in the face.
All this "why does it have to be me that can't drink anymore" is complete rubbish. You drank too much, you got addicted. You either realise your life is headed downhill and manage to get help to come off the drug or you hurtle into oblivion. That's a choice you have to make.
When I see 999 Emergency and all these poor people that are addicts with no one to help them it's a social travesty. Constantly brainwashed by TV advertising, supermarket aisles and even government reports that state alcohol in small amounts is good for you. Complete rubbish of course. No alcohol is good for you. It only serves to get you addicted if you let it. It's easy to do isn't it? We are all of us here testament to that.
The support system for addicts is laughable. How can we continue to tell people it's OK to drink and then turn our backs on them when they become addicted? Where is the sense in that?
All around me I see more musicians, artists and celebrities that choose to stay sober because they do better work that way. Paul Weller said it took him two years to recover once he managed to stop. How is it socially acceptable to promote a drug that kills you so slowly and takes so long for you to recover from the long term effects of taking it.
When I first came here I thought I had a problem. The following five years were one long battle with not only myself but the people around me as well who didn't know how I felt. How ill I was making myself, the constant thoughts about drinking. The obsession with drink. I brought it on myself encouraged by a society that sees little wrong with over consumption. When I looked around for help there was none to be found.
When I eventually walked into a "community health centre" last January I was at my wits end. I was desperate to quit. My wife thought I was having a mid life crisis and I didn't tell her I was going. "Don't be so silly" she would say. Just cut down a bit.
I cried when they started asking me how much I drank. When they'd finished asking me questions they pronounced that my case wasn't severe enough for them to take on. However they knew a therapy service that might be able to help. They never called.
I walked out with tears still dripping on my face. That was my low point. I was a binge drinker that no one could help. My friends thought my drinking was acceptable and so did the "experts". My wife still doesn't know I went to this day.
As the sober days continue to pile up and I'm reaching six months I'm so grateful that SR is here for me and others like me that managed to step back from the brink.
It's a sad indictment of the society we live in that poisons the seas, the air and even leaves trash in space that encourages its population to poison themselves and then wonders why they get sick and makes little provision to help them.
Kopfan
The interest on alcohol is worse than a payday lender.
Depression and anxiety, skin disorders, the mental health issues I stored up. All the price to pay for a quick fix that turned into one long self medicating disaster.
The real cost of drinking has nothing to do with the price tag.
I don't see this as an "alcoholic" problem. Anyone who drinks is at risk of becoming addicted. I mean if you kept injecting someone with heroin they'd become a heroin addict. Just like Doyle in "The French Connection 2"
keep drinking beer and you'll become addicted to it. Anyone that can drink "just one" is playing with fire. I don't believe there is a disease called "alcoholism". Some people just kept drinking until they get addicted to drinking alcohol. It's inevitable and it could happen to anyone.
The problem isn't that some people don't have an "off switch" the problem is that it's socially acceptable to drink. Encouraged by relentless advertising and brainwashing.
Give someone who doesn't drink, enough alcohol on a daily basis and they'll become addicted to it. How can they not? Alcohol chemically changes the brain and your physical make up.
Some people say they don't like the taste. Well no one likes the taste, which is why they mask it with orange juice, cordial or coca cola. You learn to like the taste of beer so you can get your alcohol fix.
Call it a moment of clarity, an enlightenment moment. It's only something I can relate to because I don't drink anymore. If I pick up another beer it'll start the whole process off again. It's inevitable and it's so obvious it's staring me in the face.
All this "why does it have to be me that can't drink anymore" is complete rubbish. You drank too much, you got addicted. You either realise your life is headed downhill and manage to get help to come off the drug or you hurtle into oblivion. That's a choice you have to make.
When I see 999 Emergency and all these poor people that are addicts with no one to help them it's a social travesty. Constantly brainwashed by TV advertising, supermarket aisles and even government reports that state alcohol in small amounts is good for you. Complete rubbish of course. No alcohol is good for you. It only serves to get you addicted if you let it. It's easy to do isn't it? We are all of us here testament to that.
The support system for addicts is laughable. How can we continue to tell people it's OK to drink and then turn our backs on them when they become addicted? Where is the sense in that?
All around me I see more musicians, artists and celebrities that choose to stay sober because they do better work that way. Paul Weller said it took him two years to recover once he managed to stop. How is it socially acceptable to promote a drug that kills you so slowly and takes so long for you to recover from the long term effects of taking it.
When I first came here I thought I had a problem. The following five years were one long battle with not only myself but the people around me as well who didn't know how I felt. How ill I was making myself, the constant thoughts about drinking. The obsession with drink. I brought it on myself encouraged by a society that sees little wrong with over consumption. When I looked around for help there was none to be found.
When I eventually walked into a "community health centre" last January I was at my wits end. I was desperate to quit. My wife thought I was having a mid life crisis and I didn't tell her I was going. "Don't be so silly" she would say. Just cut down a bit.
I cried when they started asking me how much I drank. When they'd finished asking me questions they pronounced that my case wasn't severe enough for them to take on. However they knew a therapy service that might be able to help. They never called.
I walked out with tears still dripping on my face. That was my low point. I was a binge drinker that no one could help. My friends thought my drinking was acceptable and so did the "experts". My wife still doesn't know I went to this day.
As the sober days continue to pile up and I'm reaching six months I'm so grateful that SR is here for me and others like me that managed to step back from the brink.
It's a sad indictment of the society we live in that poisons the seas, the air and even leaves trash in space that encourages its population to poison themselves and then wonders why they get sick and makes little provision to help them.
Kopfan
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: New England, USA
Posts: 3,958
Babe - glad you're still chugging along. Keep up the good work!
Kopfan - It sounds like you've taken a significant step in your sobriety - realizing that one drink is too many for you.
There is a family on one of the kids' teams who makes their own wine, and brought a case of it to yesterday's game. Someone decided to open it during the game. It was amazingly freeing not to care that I couldn't drink it - or care that others chose to drink.
I don't know whether alcoholism should be categorized as a disease, a mental illness was, or a product of bad decisions. What I do know is that I am an alcoholic. My utter desperation to quit drove me to seek help from a place I never considered looking, the dimly lit church basements of my community's AA. There other alcoholics have taken time to share what works for them, and offered suggestions to help me get well. I'm grateful for that!
I started this journey just wanting to quit drinking. I had no idea of any of the work I'd need to do from within, or how much Is have to learn from a room full of people who are outwardly nothing like me.
Kopfan - It sounds like you've taken a significant step in your sobriety - realizing that one drink is too many for you.
There is a family on one of the kids' teams who makes their own wine, and brought a case of it to yesterday's game. Someone decided to open it during the game. It was amazingly freeing not to care that I couldn't drink it - or care that others chose to drink.
I don't know whether alcoholism should be categorized as a disease, a mental illness was, or a product of bad decisions. What I do know is that I am an alcoholic. My utter desperation to quit drove me to seek help from a place I never considered looking, the dimly lit church basements of my community's AA. There other alcoholics have taken time to share what works for them, and offered suggestions to help me get well. I'm grateful for that!
I started this journey just wanting to quit drinking. I had no idea of any of the work I'd need to do from within, or how much Is have to learn from a room full of people who are outwardly nothing like me.
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,180
Kopfan, I agree with the heroin analogy. Alcohol is indeed addictive, and I think that eventually, anyone who drinks it is slowly becoming habituated. It might take some two hundred years to become addicted, so they don't see the full effects while alive, but they are slowly becoming hooked with every drink.
In my country, I literally have grown up with our Government's all out "War on Drugs" propaganda. Billions have been spent on incarcerating people who simply got caught with a couple joints in their pocket. The fact that millions and millions of Americans are addicted to alcohol and are causing a huge drain on the economy, as well as destroying themselves, is never addressed. If the government spent all the billions it does on drugs and prisons, instead teaching us the dangers of alcohol abuse, perhaps people would think twice before beginning a life time of drinking. To me, that would be money far better spent.
Glee, it is a great feeling to not care anymore when alcohol is around. It is liberating knowing that it just isn't for us anymore. Only people whom have been through what we have can appreciate how amazing that feeling is.
Hi Babs! Good to see you. I hope all is well!
Have a great day all!
In my country, I literally have grown up with our Government's all out "War on Drugs" propaganda. Billions have been spent on incarcerating people who simply got caught with a couple joints in their pocket. The fact that millions and millions of Americans are addicted to alcohol and are causing a huge drain on the economy, as well as destroying themselves, is never addressed. If the government spent all the billions it does on drugs and prisons, instead teaching us the dangers of alcohol abuse, perhaps people would think twice before beginning a life time of drinking. To me, that would be money far better spent.
Glee, it is a great feeling to not care anymore when alcohol is around. It is liberating knowing that it just isn't for us anymore. Only people whom have been through what we have can appreciate how amazing that feeling is.
Hi Babs! Good to see you. I hope all is well!
Have a great day all!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 473
I've invited Sons and Grandsons round to watch the footie tonight. Something I have never done before because it would have interfered with my drinking.
Now I don't mind giving them a lift home when it's finished!
My first Liverpool v United game completely sober.
Come on Reds!
Now I don't mind giving them a lift home when it's finished!
My first Liverpool v United game completely sober.
Come on Reds!
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: New England, USA
Posts: 3,958
Originally Posted by kopfan 
I've invited Sons and Grandsons round to watch the footie tonight. Something I have never done before because it would have interfered with my drinking.
Now I don't mind giving them a lift home when it's finished!
My first Liverpool v United game completely sober.
Come on Reds!
Now I don't mind giving them a lift home when it's finished!
My first Liverpool v United game completely sober.
Come on Reds!
I've been having vivid, stressful dreams lately. I know it's because I'm worrying about my mom who's going through a minor health issue and my son who's going through a social issue.
Kopfan, I don't greet the day with nearly the gusto you do, but I'm fairly eager to get up and at 'em most mornings. Today, though, I wanted to throw the covers back over my head.
For me, part of the magic of sobriety... today.... is the ability to keep moving forward in situations that I used to find so unbearable that I'd drink to escape them.
Have a great sober day, all!
Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 473
Morning Everyone!
Yes Stargazer it was a draw and not much of a game to write home about. A beautiful shot from Coutinho curling into the top corner producing a magical save from their goalie was the highlight of the game.
But, I do remember the few highlights this morning where normally there would be no memories at all! I always used to rely on the newspaper reviews in the morning to tell me what happened.
Have a great day everyone!
Yes Stargazer it was a draw and not much of a game to write home about. A beautiful shot from Coutinho curling into the top corner producing a magical save from their goalie was the highlight of the game.
But, I do remember the few highlights this morning where normally there would be no memories at all! I always used to rely on the newspaper reviews in the morning to tell me what happened.
Have a great day everyone!
Quit 4/17/15
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Pa
Posts: 15,180
ESPN used to show a game of the week from the Premier League each week that I would watch. I saw lots of Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal and others every week. It is definitely the top league in the world, as all top players here head across the pond to make a good living. I unfortunately haven't seen a game in years.
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