Honu

This perplexes me. The "fight" to stay sober, or give in, is a battle. It's HARD. Why do we fight so hard? What has alcohol ever done for us? Win friends? Make us wealthy? Healthy? Happy?

Quite the contrary, it causes us to lose. In every way.

So, why do we hold on so dearly? It seems that it should be a simple answer. And, fighting is DRAINING. It seems that if we just "said no", that the battle would be over, and we could just walk away.

I guess that's the insanity of it all.

Honu

Dean62

I thought for a long time I was fighting alcohol but in the end I was fighting myself. That is why it was so hard. The reason I kept drinking is because no matter what happened to me I held on to the idea I could still drink and bad things wouldn't happen. I was obsessed with the "Good times" in the past and unable to focus on the destruction of the present. I couldn't handle the idea of never having a drink again.

When I gave up and accepted I could no longer drink I stopped fighting.

Hevyn

For me, I was always trying to recreate that high & happy feeling I once got when I drank. Long ago it was fun, relaxing, something I rewarded myself with after I worked hard or whatever. I didn't want to let go of those times. It's admitting when it's "over" and being able to move on without our crutch that's so hard.

PrimalScream

Hi Honu,

I'm really new here but I thought I would chime in with why I personally fight it (it being sobriety)...I do it because I still crave and enjoy the short term pleasure drinking (smoking, toking) gives me. I feel awesome when I'm getting drunk. I know I will pay for it the next day (and maybe the one after that) but the intense pleasure (whether it is a false pleasure or not) I feel from drinking blocks out what the day after will feel like. That's where I'm at. I know this answer might not be the one your looking for but it is my answer. It's the reason I struggle with staying sober all the time.

Daddio

It was always easier to deal with the whatevers tomorrow when medicated with the booze. Now the peace that evelopes me is a brand new thing. So the fight for me was/is definitely worth it.

Daddio

Honu

I just thought that this was a good topic. We fight and fight, what a stupid thing.

I wanted to hear what everyone else's take on it is...

You know, I'd walk away from a friend who treated me like my "friend, the wine bottle" treats me. It just seems stupid, when I think about it 'intellectually'.

Honu

threestars

What a good question.. and my answer is, i don't know. I hate drinking, i hate the way i feel when drunk. But yet again i am sat here this evening, drinking. My first try at being sober (well, the first time i really did and wholeheartedly try) i managed a month or so..and i felt wonderful, like i could take on the world and all it had to throw at me.. then after a slip up, for a menial reason.... i have been going back to it time and time again. It's loneliness i guess. Drinking is my way of escaping.. but at the back of my mind, i know when i wake up i will feel lonelier than ever, as i keep on pushing people away, each and every time i give in..

Grr.......... alcohol. It gives me nothing, yet i am giving myself to it entirely. Logical.. not at all.