MSoccer

Hello everyone, I am new here and have read quite a few of the discussions but I needed to express how I'm feeling somewhere. I have been going to AA meetings for the last two weeks and they certainly help my addiction. For some odd reason I put alcohol on a pedestal. For example, if I have a good game I feel like I deserve a beer. I don't know why I think a beer is a reward when I can't just have one. I can think of numerous bad situations that came from drinking and I can't seem to find a positive one. I need help to realize that alcohol is not fun and is dangerous to me. Being twenty one most of my friends are finishing up college and don't think twice about drinking. Any advice would be much appreciated.

IndaMiricale

I think we all think or thought like that . You are learning about leaving your best friend and crutch.

I am glad to see your hitting up AA, but going to meeting is just being around the fellowship. I hope you get busy being a member of AA. By getting a sponsor and working those steps, getting active, and keep going to the meetings. I need both steps everyday and meetings to keep this ship on coarse.

So glad you found this site , Welcome Home.

LaFemme

Hi and welcome!

I read a book called 'the easy way to quit drinking' by Allan Carr. The book did a great job in changing the way I viewed alcohol. It helped me see it for what it really is.

artsoul

Welcome MSoccer -

Good for you for realizing this now and doing something about it. Alcohol really is a dangerous drug - once I got sober and started reading about it, I was amazed at what I didn't know (like how it damages every organ of the body). Life is hard, but living with an addiction that only gets worse is pure hell.

Glad you decided to join us..... Coming here and reading always inspires me to commit to another day sober.

blueshades

I have been there, MSoccer. It's great that you have the insight at your age to examine a sober lifestyle. I wish that I had had your maturity!

It's a cliche, but I think that "beer pressure" is so much more of a factor when we're younger. Not because we're not mature enough to be responsible, but because our friendships are so important in that stage of life. It becomes so much easier later on to break from the pack. I'm not anywhere near as close to my old friends now as I reach middle age. While that makes me feel a little lonely, it is nice to be more of an independent person.

Trust me when I write that your commitment to finding the answers will pay off. I wish that I had asked myself 10 or 15 years ago, "Why do I think that I need this?" I didn't then anymore than I do now, but I didn't have the courage or the maturity to face up to that at the time.

I wish you luck.

Dee74

Welcome MSoccer,

Like LaFemme, I found the Allen Carr book was useful at getting at that kind of 'reward' thinking too.

Do you have a sponsor yet?

D

MSoccer

Thank you all for your quick and caring responses. I appreciate all of the advice and will certainly look into the book. I'm assuming I can grab a copy online or at a bookstore near by. I do not have a sponsor yet, I'm in between moving to complete an internship and will look for a sponsor in my new city. It has been fifteen days today and I'm going to my good friends wedding this evening with my girlfriend. I'm actually looking forward to enjoying the evening and not drinking. Waking up without hangovers is actually quite amazing haha.When I was drinking I would only drink a couple times a month but I would make those times last entirely too long and it would give me the absolute worst hangover. Usually it would take a day if not two days to get over it. One thing I did notice today is I feel a bit depressed for no reason I can think of.

gincognito

Do you know how awesome it is you're getting sober at 20? Think of all the years of crap you care going to avoid. Wish I had done the same instead of 17 years later.

MSoccer

Thanks for being positive. I am just glad I am doing now because I know it would be even harder in years to come and I would have more regrets. It does stand out among my friends which is probably the hardest part because its almost comical to some of them as they believe drinking to be a "college" thing that they will stop after college.

lilyrosemary

i have a friend who has never taken a legal drink. he's 42 now and has been sober 24 years and he is one of the very coolest guys on planet earth. i wish you all the best. you can be an inspiration to so many! God bless!