Hello all I'm new and want to quit alcohol
Guest
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Sunny FL
Posts: 647
Do this for yourself quickbeam. Your wife will come around eventually. Good for you for going to AA. Sounds as if you have a plan. Keep it up. I too was tired of waking up in shame wondering what I did the night before. I did and said things I would NEVER do sober. Hang in there. Life is so much better sober
Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Upstate New York
Posts: 1,928
The most important things for me are:
1. Never forget the feeling/pain addiction caused me right before I quit.
2. Talk to at least one recovering alcoholic every day, on the phone or better face to face.
3. Read and post here or on another recovery forum every day.
4. Each evening make a plan for what I will do/accomplish the next day. Don't include any time for drinking, and stick to the plan. It's OK not to get everything done. It's not so good to have large gaps of idle time.
That's why I go to an AA meeting every day. I have big issues with the "god" stuff and I can't believe that the "Big Book" and the "12 Steps" are holy writ, but I completely overlook that because it is so important to get face to face with others that truely understand what I'm going through. No one who isn't alcoholic could ever begin to get a glimmer of what it's like.
The meeting itself gives me a chance to hear "my story" in the story of others and that refreshes my memory of what it was like before I quit. It also gives me the chance to listen to the problems that others are having and how they tried to solve them and if it worked. I try to stick with discussion or speaker meetings and avoid Big Book and Step meetings. If you find yourself at a meeting that is uncomfortable (either the group or the topic) it is perfectably acceptable to stand up and leave.
I try to get to the meeting early and stay a while after the meeting. It's not important what we talk about at those times. Sometimes it's alcohol, sometimes fishing, sometimes work or hobbies.
One thing to keep in mind. AA his a lot of jargon - slogans. It used to put me off unitl I recognised that it was just shorthand and that each slogan had/has many different aspects and interpretations. That comes out in discussion meetings over time. Another thing is that no one at a meeting will judge you. Instead you will be welcomed and given support and sympathy and help.
My final two cents is that you are right, it is progressive, and as soon as you get a craving/urge ask yourself "Am I ready to die? - and if not - Do I really want to suffer through early sobriety again?"
You can do it! Hold Fast.
1. Never forget the feeling/pain addiction caused me right before I quit.
2. Talk to at least one recovering alcoholic every day, on the phone or better face to face.
3. Read and post here or on another recovery forum every day.
4. Each evening make a plan for what I will do/accomplish the next day. Don't include any time for drinking, and stick to the plan. It's OK not to get everything done. It's not so good to have large gaps of idle time.
That's why I go to an AA meeting every day. I have big issues with the "god" stuff and I can't believe that the "Big Book" and the "12 Steps" are holy writ, but I completely overlook that because it is so important to get face to face with others that truely understand what I'm going through. No one who isn't alcoholic could ever begin to get a glimmer of what it's like.
The meeting itself gives me a chance to hear "my story" in the story of others and that refreshes my memory of what it was like before I quit. It also gives me the chance to listen to the problems that others are having and how they tried to solve them and if it worked. I try to stick with discussion or speaker meetings and avoid Big Book and Step meetings. If you find yourself at a meeting that is uncomfortable (either the group or the topic) it is perfectably acceptable to stand up and leave.
I try to get to the meeting early and stay a while after the meeting. It's not important what we talk about at those times. Sometimes it's alcohol, sometimes fishing, sometimes work or hobbies.
One thing to keep in mind. AA his a lot of jargon - slogans. It used to put me off unitl I recognised that it was just shorthand and that each slogan had/has many different aspects and interpretations. That comes out in discussion meetings over time. Another thing is that no one at a meeting will judge you. Instead you will be welcomed and given support and sympathy and help.
My final two cents is that you are right, it is progressive, and as soon as you get a craving/urge ask yourself "Am I ready to die? - and if not - Do I really want to suffer through early sobriety again?"
You can do it! Hold Fast.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 14
Saturday night and i just got back from my first AA meeting.
Everyone was so welcoming and I even shares a little.
They were really nice to me. I have to admit felt a little uncomfortable, even felt like drinking for the first 20 mins. By the end of it, though i totally did not want to drink.
I heard other stories and realized I didnt want to go through what some people went through. I have been through enough already
I got a copy of the Big Book to keep me busy until next week.
Today is my third day sober.
Everyone was so welcoming and I even shares a little.
They were really nice to me. I have to admit felt a little uncomfortable, even felt like drinking for the first 20 mins. By the end of it, though i totally did not want to drink.
I heard other stories and realized I didnt want to go through what some people went through. I have been through enough already
I got a copy of the Big Book to keep me busy until next week.
Today is my third day sober.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
