WingsFan13

Hi Everyone,

I quit drinking 7 months ago (see my intro thread here - http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-new-here.html) and I am not considering having an occasional drink.

Some background into whats going on - 7 months is the longest ive gone without drinking. I've been happy and my wife has been especially happy with makes me happier. But, i feel like i have put all of my drinking in the past into perspective. I see the damage it did, the reasons that it did the damage and the thought patterns that got me there in the first place.

Suffice to say, I honestly think I could go back to having an occasional drink at a social function or out to dinner with my wife without falling back into my past behavior. I know that some people have actually done this with success but there are a lot more failings.

I dont feel that I need alcohol but i do feel that drinking responsibly is benificial to me. I just havent proven in the past that I can successfully do that for an extended period of time but i also havent taken the matter this seriously in the past.

any thoughts or insight is appreciated

SoberForMySon

I read your intro thread. I would say don't even consider it.

MIRecovery

Quit for six years and was right back to where I started in 2 months. If you are an alcoholic these are suicidal thoughts

soberjim

Wings....I am sure that you will gets lots of advice..Especially from those with a whole lot more experience than myself.

I am very early in recovery and it has been a long, long struggle and learnign experience for me. I can only dream of having 7 months sober....YOU are so fortunate.

What I can tell is that if I had 7 months, I would not RISK it for anything.

I wouls be way too concerned that I would be back to where it began.

Please, think long and hard about this decision..

Jim

Casmasta

I don't understand how drinking could be beneficial at all..
Especially since it didn't really work out that way to begin with.

I know I tried to do the 'responsible' thing for a few years.
Never worked.

Good luck!

WingsFan13

Thank you all for the advice. my wife suggested i asked here instead of just looking at her for insight. i've quickly snapped out of the thoughts i was having.

i know its not possible and i would be lying to myself if i did anything other than continuing on my sober path.

thanks everyone

jobei

Booze is bad news man! Stay sober for the win!

soberjim

Wings....Your last post...great relief...

Take the 7 months and enjoy the sobriety....I'd love to be where you are...
Don't risk it for anything...it simply isn't worth it..

Jim

pipparina

very glad to see your second post reconsidering the occasional drink. Very dangerous stuff for us to consider. The further away from our last drunk we are, the easier it seems to be to think, oh, it wasn't that bad. But next time you have that thought, please post on here first. It could save you much misery

WingsFan13

ive done a good job putting these thoughts in check before. not sure why this time it really seemed like a possibility.

thanks for all the support

veryready

My buddy met a guy at AA. The guy had not drank for 25 years. He was successful and retired. He though what the hell, I am retired, I can have a drink once in a while. That guy is now dead.

jobei

It's that sneaky monster trying to sabotage you... keep it in the hole where it belongs!

BabyJane

Wings,

This is only my experience, but I once had something like 9 months sober. This was 9 months of no drugs and no alcohol. I was totally sober and dealing with life on life's terms. Some days I still thought about drinking but I had done my homework, if you will, and even though I could sometimes moderate I didn't enjoy drinking in moderation because it was no fun to be so "controlled" - and every now and again, I would go completely off the rails and be a drunken mess. I got arrested. I went to hospitals. I was in rough shape.

So after this 9 months, even though I was rather happy and peaceful and had gotten a great job going, had a new lease on life, living in a good place, healthy, etc. I allowed this sneaky disease to convince me that I could take *TWO* Vicodin one night at a party because I wanted to loosen up.

The backslide was not immediate. I didn't go back to square one right away like some people claimed I would BUT this one slip slowly turned into three more YEARS of madness and wrecking my life with drugs. At the end, I was again jobless, broke, depressed, very sick, desperate and deeply sad that I had let go of that sober time.

Just something to think about.

Also, I have to say that every time I have relapsed (too many times I hate to admit) I usually get high and think to myself, "this is not as good as I rember it being! Wtf am I doing? I felt BETTER sober!"

Honestly.

Food for thought my friend. Glad you posted this. At least you are honest and that is a big deal for anyone trying to have a decent life. I hope you can stay sober.

Much love

outdoors

Some good thoughts here. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

Reading this will keep me sober today.

doggonecarl

Wise choice. And thanks for sparing me having to respond to your initial post.

Continued success.

WingsFan13

I should also mention that these feelings all stemmed from a recent trip home to visit friends and family. it was my first trip home sober and first outting without my wife. the thoughts of being able to drink stemmed from feeling akward being around old friends without alcohol. of course as we all have learned, they dont care if i drink or not but it bothered me for some reason.

hopefully those feelings happen less and less as i put my self in these situations more

escapist

I have played that song and it always ends the same. I would ask myself ," Why does one drink sound so attractive?'' What is one drink? Practically nothing right? So why bother with it? One drink won't make you healthier. What is the benefit? What one drink can do is lead to another and another , etc.

WhisperStr3ngth

I am thankful for your honesty. I am at 1 day 11hrs bout 40 mins in my path..

Lionhearted1

Because your an alcoholic, and that is our greatest illusion that we can one day drink like a normal person!!!

EternalQ

Wings:
At nine months tomorrow, I have such thoughts too sometimes,.so I thank you for posting.

When I read your initial post here, I noticed you seem to ignore the biological monster drink dependency is. We can "think" all we want. But if our body get a whiff of alcohol it is off and running and IT is NOT listening to what "we think" and DOES NOT CARE.

As a friend says: "Your best thinking got you to alcoholism" .

So thank you. Your post really helped me spot that in your "logic"... AND hence spot it in myself.

BabyJane: Your post also helped me immensely!! Thank you.