Hello
 

I stumbled upon this wonderful site a few weeks ago, and have been reading and learning bits and pieces along the way. By the grace of God, I have been alcohol free since 10/18/1996. I made a deal with Him back then if He would remove my desire to drink that I would never touch it again. He did his part immediately, and I have kept my end of the bargain for 13 years. Not a drop. Before this agreement, I was drinking a half a fifth of Maker's Mark every single evening for several years. It did not effect my work, but it was creating issues in my marriage and social life. I did not work any program. I simply made an honorable deal with God. Before making the deal, I took it very seriously, and feel as if it would crush my spirit if I were to break my end of the bargain. I am far from perfect, but have not defaulted on that particular deal. I am nearing the point of possibly striking another deal with God, but not yet convinced that I will be able to live up to it my end. Plenty of time to delve into current situations in future discussions. I simply wanted to greet the members, and get a few posts under my belt in an effort to open up more functionality of the boards.

AE

Welcome to SR Adamant Empath!
Good to have you with us.:)

D

Hi, nice to meet you, im new here too :)

Welcome to our recovery community.....:wavey:

God also took my drinking obcession away
but certainly not as quickly as your experience.
I had been sober 3 years and finished my AA Steps.

Glad you decided to join us...:yup:

Welcome to SR!

Welcome to SR!

your sobriety date is my 'natural' birthday.

Welcome to SR. Another Maker's Mark addict here. I used to drink a bottle a day. I even toured the plant where they make the stuff in Kentucky. I was a real fan of it. It's great not to have to live like that anymore.

Welcome to SR :Xmasostar

Welcome to SR and Congrats on your 13 years of sobriety!

Welcome to SR! I'm glad you joined the family!

Welcome!!

welcome , 13 yrs ... thats flipping Fantastic .... were glad you found us and Im sure theres lots plenty of things we can learn from your shares .. Huggles Endzy

Glad you're here!! I really enjoyed your introduction..hope to see you around here more! :)

Did you quit cold turkey? How did you handle detox. I too drank 1/2 a bottle for 20 plus years every evening and opted to white nuckle it starting this past Monday. I'm just now starting to feel pretty good. Will it continue to get better? Thanks and welcome.

I really appreciate all the pleasant greetings!

MM is Yummy! In the words of Jimmy Buffet, it is "like honey dew vine water". I sure wish my DNA would allow me to casually sip the stuff, but I know that one stiff drink would send me into a downward spiral. I sure was lucky to survive the dozen years of my binge drinking that began in college. Many good and bad memories go hand in hand with that time of my life. While clearing the land to build our home, I always had a huge 96 oz. "Big Gulp" mug filled with MM, Coke, and ice within arms length. On more than one occasion, I staggered down the hill to get the wife to come hook the winch to the tractor to flip it back up on four wheels. It is amazing that I didn't destroy everything in sight in the process of falling and clearing out a few hundred large white pines. Only downside to not drinking is that I lost the motivation to go outside and work like a borrowed mule every day. I still enjoy landscaping and gardening around our home, but the alcohol sure was effective at masking the physical pain of the brutal labor that I so much enjoyed for a season.

I hear you. This houston cold weather will put me through the test this weekend. I would normally build a fire outside, get one of Kinky Friedman Cigars, and sip JD on ice. Like Jimmy Buffett said, "Life is just a tire swing".
You must be a true parrot head to know "God's Own Drunk". That was one big Bear!

Good job on deciding let it go! Seriously.

Yes, I quit cold turkey. I literally went from being willing to ingest anything I could get my hands on to completely dry overnight. I was extremely bored at first, but I learned to focus my attention toward more positive things. The only explanation I have to this day is that God did his part, and I did mine.