Beerbottles

Well this is lame... Here I am... Ive been away a few months and drank a few times. I feel like the biggest failure / embarrassment. I haven't done anything bad or hit bottom but the fact is I'm still drinking...

Why can't I just bloody stop! What's so bloody great about it

TorontoGuy28

....I could not stop for a long time. Had to get honest and accept the fact that I was powerless over alcohol. No need to hit a bottom..

Stevie1

Ehhh...you can't stop because you're an alcoholic, and it's really difficult.

So, you probably need to do things a little differently going forward. Support groups, counseling, a solid plan. Crossing your fingers and wishing on a star doesn't work for most of us, no matter how sincerely we want to quit.

What are you prepared to do differently, now?

Beerbottles

Differently this time? I think acknowledging the fact that alcohol can no longer be an option is a start..

Anna

That's a great place to start.

It sounds simplistic, but when I told myself that alcohol was no longer an option, my mind started to work to find different ways to deal with things. You can do this.

TorontoGuy28

Great start....

You need to change your daily habits too, people, places etc..

First 90 days were critical for me, but now I enjoy a new sense of freedom..

Join a recovery group, I used AA... Lots and lots of meetings available

Stevie1

YES. You got it!

You also need a plan to stay quit, because that is the hard part. Everyone can stop drinking, it's the staying stopped that's a challenge.

HarleyDaddy

I had a similar problem when I tried to quit smoking the 20 times it took. Everyone I knew could have a cigarette once or twice a month and never was a "smoker"...but if I had one I'd be back to a pack a day within a week. So now I have to use the same philosophy with alcohol, no matter how others can handle it I can't.

tomsteve

in the 23 ish year i drank i never encountered a problem stopping. it was staying stopped i couldnt do. all it took for me was desperation, then a decision to do whatever i had to do to stop and stay stopped and that only required changing just about everything. then i had to concede to my inner most self that my way/thinking worked real good at getting me drunk so it wasnt gonna help me get sober. i had to use the thinking/ actions others had used.
it has been workin pretty good for the last 7 years.

Live2Run25

Don't feel embarrassed. We've all released. Pick up and move on. Find a sober path and stay on it. Your life depends on it.

2granddaughters

AA has worked for me for nearly 23 years. Might be just the ticket for you.

All the best.

Bob R

Notmyrealname

I think it's maybe easier to embrace sobriety when the sh$# has just hit the fan. Bottoming out helped me. I did not want to be who I had become, and I could see that people in my life didn't like who I had become very much, either. And I saw that people can and do make changes with help and support, and realized that I could do it, too.

For me, sobering up has been the ticket back to being who I should have been in the first place, with all the compassion, confidence, and honesty that I didn't have when I was drinking, hiding it, and ashamed of myself.

Dee74

welcome back beerbottles

stayomng connected to this community helped keep me grounded and accountable - whenever I thought I could maybe drink I had a lot of people to turn to who'd tell it to me straight.

Why not stick around this time?

D

hypochondriac

What Dee said! Your post reminded me that when I first got here I avoided it because I was still drinking and I was embarrassed, I didn't realise that people actually went through the process of quitting here. I wish I had some evidence of what was going through my head at that time. It was probably just a long list of excuses and my AV prob knew that if I posted on here, sooner or later I would have to quit. Posting on here is a great way to stay accountable.

freshstart57

I am the sort who doesn't believe anyone who tells me what my abilities are. You will never be able to do xxxx, whatever that is, for whatever reason. I get to decide what I can and cannot achieve. Someone who tells me what my limitations are is someone who is standing in my way.

The truth is that you can stop drinking, but only if you decide that you can, and only if you choose to do it. You can make this happen. Honest.

Beerbottles

Thanks for all you support! Very overwhelming!

Thought I'd come on and air today's thoughts...

We've been trying for baby number 2 for a few months now.. Please note I never drink when there's a chance I could be pregnant.. Anyway today we found out I'm not.... Again... And literally my first thought was to drink... That will make me feel better! Right... I know it won't really.

We're going on holiday soon and my thoughts have turned from, oh this will be a nice break for our little family to oh we'll I'm
Not pregnant may as well go buy beer to take away with us!

Beerbottles

So instead of using this news as an excuse to drink I'm going to see it as a sign...that I need to take this time to focus my mind and get myself well.. The time isn't right for me to get pregnant.. The time now is to get me well..

Gravesmeister

That is one of my biggest triggers for drinking. I see other people enjoy a few drinks and then stop and that makes me envy them. Once that happens the alcoholic side of me starts talking me into the first drink which is always my down fall. Once I start being honest with myself and reminding myself that I cannot drink like that I am reminded that I'm an alcoholic and can never drink like that. I'm probably not making much sense but it helps me to talk about it.