Tippingpoint

One funny thing from my AA experience today...

There was a nice older fella sitting beside me and he asked if I was a regular at this meeting. I told him that I wasn't and that it was my very first meeting.

He kind of sat up a bit at that. After a couple of minutes he said:

"So, what do you drink"?

I told him a bit of everything.

"You drink at home or in bars"?

A bit of both I told him.

"Your wife starting to get on your case"?

I told him no, not at all - nothing like that.

After another bit of a pause he said:

"Well, you got a pretty good chance then"!

I thought that was very funny and it went a long way towards allowing me to relax in what was a very foreign environment.

LexieCat

He's right, though. You were there because YOU are ready to quit drinking, not to make someone else happy.

I find AA to be a great way of life. You are giving yourself and your family a great gift.

Zebra1275

Over the past 20 years I've seen a gradual progression in my own alcohol use that I've finally admitted to be unmanageable.

Welcome, and I'm glad you recognize the progression of alcoholism. If you keep drinking, it keeps getting worse. The progression accelerates as you age and the years of alcohol abuse add up. That's been my experience. I'm about 10 years older than you and I'm sober with the help of AA.

42 is a good age to quit drinking (although 41 would have been better).

Tippingpoint

NYCDoglvr

Congratulations on four days! It helps me so much to keep in mind that I only stay sober TODAY. I'm so glad you have someone else who is on the same path to confide in ... we alcoholics understand each other.

Keep up the good work. It's awesome.

Tippingpoint

Thank you! It's actually day 6 now though!

Tippingpoint

On my way home from work tonight I was having this whole conversation in my head about how well I was doing and how it now seemed like I'd blown this whole drinking thing out of proportion. Clearly I'm not as bad as I thought I was and I should absolutely see if I can go back to drinking but with control. In my head I wasn't thinking that I would drink tonight but maybe in another week or so. Now that I'm home I feel fine. I had a great swim with my kids and we had a lot of fun...more fun than we've had in a long time.

I may need to go back to drinking to see if I can tame the beast at least one more time before I can quit for good. I made a promise to myself that I have to quit for at least 1 month before I can do that. I suspect this is a common theme among those here and I suspect that most everyone fails. We'll see, I'm going to do my best to take this one day at a time and see where it takes me.

I have a very good friend that is coming up on 2 years and he never meant to go beyond 1 month - it just felt so good he couldn't stop!

Dee74

I can't tell you how many times I had that mental conversation TP.

I should have asked myself - if lifes so good sober, why go back to drinking?

If I over reacted, whats the force pulling me back to drinking?

I never had control - ever - in my drinking career...but I convinced myself time and again that a period of abstinence (like a week!) was proof I could 'do it'...this time.

Yes I think everyone tries this. It's part of the condition - the great desire to be a normal drinker. I tried and failed for 20 years - last time I tried I went 'out' for two years.

Please consider this decision very very carefully.

D

Tippingpoint

I should clarify that my friend has not been drinking for 2 years.

Tippingpoint

I hear ya Dee. Thanks for the great advice. I appreciate it.