marco79

Well tonight is my last shift and then I'm off for 11 days.

Now not had a drink in 8 days which I'm happy about. Tomorrow night though I'm meant to be going out for dinner with my wife and the normal thing we would do is share a bottle of wine (2 glasses each and that would be it). I have said I will take the car instead which my wife thought really weird given we have baby sitters.

I'm also off on holiday now and will have the opportunity to drink everyday.

The troubling thing is. I want to go out and drink wine tomorrow night and I want my usual couple of bottles of wine over the next 11 days and a maybe a couple of beers with the footy on tv, all my mates will probably drink much more than this during our rest leave. I also want to not have anything for the next 11 days. This is proving a point that at the moment I have been planning my life around when I can and can't drink. Not liking this at all !!

Easy to give up and say stuff it, just continue with what you have been doing, nothing bads happened yet, progression I know !! Am I there !!

Marco

desertsong

No such thing as moderation with us ... it's all or nothing. You made it for 8 days and it would be a shame to throw all of that hard work away for the "pleasure" of a couple of glasses of wine. The only thing it will "prove" to you is that you probably shouldn't have had them in the first place.

Throw a monkey wrench into this scenario by going to a restaurant that doesn't serve alcohol.

Then take the next 11 days one day at a time, doing what you've been doing for the last 8 days. Camp out here at SR if you get to feeling snarky ... the good folks here will talk you out of that glass of wine or couple of beers. Count on it.

2granddaughters

You could attend some AA meetings during your holiday. That may help a lot.
It sounds like alcohol hasn't yet kicked the cr#p out of you to the point where you are ready to surrender. Good luck.

Wishing you the best.

Bob R

Anna

Moderation doesn't work for alcoholics, and, yes, alcoholism is a progressive disease.

It sounds like you need to make a decision which way you want to go. I can promise you that it takes a lot of motivation to stop drinking. I hope that it's the decision you make.

anotherquitter

Sounds like you haven't told your wife yet about your decision to quit? You have decided to quit and never drink again - right?

In my case I was like you, hesitant to talk to my wife about it until I was sure about my decision. It's like making a stronger commitment to yourself once you start opening up to those around you, and if your are anything like me, your addictive voice is giving you all the options/doubts/excuses in case you fail.

Dee74

Thats the crossroads we all have to face Marco.

I'd put any idea that you can drink on your holidays and then return to recovery to one side - if you drink like most of us did, that's just not possible.

I kept coming up to the same crossroads and kept choosing the keep drinking option...things went ok for a long time...then they got very much worse, suddenly and immediately.

None of us know when we'll hit that point and start to skid out of control.

The wisest thing to do is to never put ourselves in that situation.

Not drinking is rough for a while - day 8 is the beginning of the journey really - but I promise you you'll look back and think it really is one of the best decisions you'll ever make - if you commit to sticking with it

D

sugarbear1

I wish you sobriety!

marco79

OK decision is made. We will go out tomorrow night and I will not drink,take the car and save on taxis as well as keeping up with the plan. Busy weekend planned with the kids, tons of stuff to do around the house and I blagged a couple of extra shifts tonight for next week. I will need to keep myself occupied to have a chance.

No my wife doesn't know that I have chosen to give up drink, she doesn't think I have a problem, she just thinks I like a drink 2 or 3 times a week, which I do.

DesertSong - We live in Scotland other than McDs every resteraunt sells drink :-) Our culture is to drink and often too much.

Sapling

They must have a ton of AA meetings then....You should check one out...If you get a little time to read...Read the Doctor's Opinion and pages 1-43 of this book...It will give you a good idea if you are an alcoholic or not...

The text of Alcoholics Anonymous

eJoshua

Good luck Marco! I would definitely come up with a solid plan for how you are going to spend your time. Creating a plan doesn't make you weak or your recovery weak, it just makes you well prepared.

I'm nearly a year sober and that much free time would still raise a red flag for me. I would make sure you line up a lot of great sober activities for yourself.

I don't think that you have to let alcohol kick you around before you quit. I don't see the point of continuing in harmful behavior in the hopes of eventually reaching a bottom. Negative consequences be damned, if you want to be sober then go for it.

There's always someone here for support if you need it.

marco79

Well thanks to all the support on here we were out for dinner last night and I didn't touch a drink.

We went to the pics "21 Jump St" which was great then on to our fav restaurant. Wife had a glass of wine and I had a 1L of mineral water and a espresso to finish. I drove so saved a fair put on taxis and wine bill. Feeling super fresh this morning and no plans to drink today. Wife did thing something was up and asked if I was alright as I don't normally drive or not drink in a restaurant.

Well thats me up to 10 days so far. So far so good.

Great site this, even though I'm lucky enough to not slipped so far as many on here I knew there was an issue I need to address.

Marco

dawnrunner

That is so awesome! Wishing you the best most enjoyable holiday ever! with no regrets and no hangovers. And lots of good times with the children. They grow up so fast!