FeenixxRising

My occupation frequently takes me to facilities that have not just one bar, but many bars. In addition, the drinks are either very cheap or free. And if all that isn’t enough, I can drink without fear of employment repercussions while I’m working. Although, if I drink too much I’m obviously not performing at my best.

Long story short, I had to spend a 4-5 hours this afternoon in that environment. While traveling there, the image (and taste) of a nice cold mug of beer was coming on incredibly strong. It didn’t help that the work I would be doing isn’t rocket science and fairly boring.

So I started to justify having a drink; I told myself I could just have a few, etc. etc. But I played the tape forward. The most obvious fault with my thinking was I almost certainly would not have had just a few. I almost certainly would have ended up drunk, and I had a two hour drive afterwards. So the math just didn’t add up. Drinking one beer in that situation would have probably ended up very ugly at best and disastrous at worst. It took a little reflection; some deep breathing and I had to white knuckle it for about 30 minutes or so, but the urges went away and I settled for a coffee buzz rather than an alcohol buzz.

artsoul

Glad you did the math! Good job, Feenixx!

1newcreation

Thanks for sharing u're day. Since 1 is too many & 1K is never enuf, just don't even try it. I see it's work related so be spiritually fit before you attend. If asked what u're drinkin or why not alc, just be as forthcoming as you can & say you are fine w/ soft drink or water.
My sobriety is my main priority so could care less anymore what anyone thinks today!

LSC1

Well Done Feenixx

FeenixxRising

Thanks all. I feel good about this--it was probably my hardest moment over the last three weeks.

The icing on the cake is that those few hours of "sober" work ended with a nice financial windfall. Now, I can't say for certain that I would not have had the same financial success after drinking a few beers, but the odds were better than 50/50 I would have done something stupid that would have potentially eaten in that money significantly. Staying sober ensured that my "do stupid stuff" control knob stayed at 1 rather than 10.

LadyinBC

Feenix, . That is awesome!

shauninspain

It's great the you were able to logically and rationally see the dangerous position that you were in, and acted accordingly. A sign of real growth. Congratulations.

Jeni26

Great choice, well done!x

raja12

So great you didn't cave in! Well done. I know how bad the temptation is, and must have been 4 u. Continue 2 stay strong, and committed.

ScoutBall

Whoa...your "Do Stupid Control" knob stops at 10?!!



Great work!
I think I pushed the limits of my knob more than my fair share.

Threshold

I think there is often a quiet turning point in our recovery when we accept that we don't NEED alcohol.

It's the freedom to walk away. We may want it, but we know we don't need it.

I refer to that as sobriety reaching a theraputic level. Every time I told myself "I don't need that drink" and then proved it to be true by having a better day, I grew a bit more confident.

FeenixxRising

Unfortunately, it's been at 11 or higher more times than I care to admit (with props given to Spinal Tap for my volume knob reference)

Waking up sober this morning is another reason to be happy with yesterday's decision to not drink. Had I taken the other road, I would be sitting here, beating myself up, feeling remorse, nursing a sever hangover or worse.

I'll gladly take the alternative.

SnwFlower

That's absolutely awesome Feenixx.