Well
 

Just introducing myself. I just turned 25, and I've been drinking at what I'd call problem levels for just over a year - mainly financially, but I'm sure the physical symptoms would be apparent soon.

I've set a sobriety date of August 1, and putting that here so I can feel accountable to a date.

I'll go on record that I reject the view that excessive drinking is no more a disease than smoking, although my goal is still permanent abstinence. Along the same vein, I don't think I'm fundamentally different from anyone else, even though I might be predisposed to alcohol-related habits. I'm the one who made the mistake of letting drinking get too far, and accept full responsibility for that stupidity. Likewise, I don't agree that I need a "higher power" to quit (I'm atheist/agnostic) nor is there a character flaw I need to find and acknowledge to do so. I'm going to quit, and when I do I intend to take full credit for doing so.

So here goes!

Welcome to SR Xpylej. We're glad you found us.

I was a life long drinker. I tried to quit on my own many times & it never lasted. When I found SR I was very relieved. I never knew there were so many people just like me. I had no one to discuss it with - everyone I knew was a social drinker & no one understood why I couldn't 'just have one'. Here, I felt at home - and found the courage to change my life. I hope it helps you too.

Welcome X,

I'm also 25. I'm excited about being sober even though it is difficult. I've tried to quit a few times and each time after a little while I would decide that there wasn't anything wrong with me and I could have a drink. This time I know that being an alcoholic is part of who I am and it won't change. It is actually really freeing. This time I don't have the pressure to prove to myself that "I'm fine." I'm not fine. I can't have one drink but I'm free and happy today!

I hope you find support here on your journey! Welcome!

welcome Xpylej :)

you seem pretty much on the non nonsense willpower wagontrain....so why wait to quit on Aug 1? :dunno:

D

:welcome to SR! There's a lot of support here.:)

Woah... I just re-read this after typing it on a bus ride home! There's a slight typo in my 3rd paragraph - I don't reject that, haha. Replace the word "reject" with "embrace", and it'll be correct.

And I appreciate all the constructive replies thus far.

As for waiting until August 1, I honestly just felt that picking a date in the future would help, so I couldn't just tell myself that 'quitting' was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and that I really was serious about it.

So, I shall have to amend my sobriety date to August 10th, but all indications are that I'm finally on to something.

Last week was the first full 7 days in the past 2 years I haven't drank, and with each day of sobriety adding up, I feel less and less inclined to drink again, because I don't want to feel like I've lost the progress I've made!

The most irritating part was, when I look back on the week, it wasn't "easy" to resist cravings when they hit, YET it really was quite easy in the sense that it wasn't very much harder than just giving in to temptation and drinking. There were a few times I just went and grabbed a slurpee instead, and went to sleep.

It's definitely neat having a clear head all the time though. It's even more rewarding after I have a "using dream", and wake up without a bottle on my nightstand.

hey Xpylej! i'm an atheist/agnostic too. i've come to rely on a power greater than myself to get me though. i don't like to call it God but sometimes that's just a convenient word to use. i prefer to think of it as a Universal Spirit. a force that binds everything together in the moment. i guess what i really believe is that there is energy out there that we can't explain and it can be benevolent or not, depending on your relationship with it. i try to do good and rely on the fact that i am positive and i bring positive energy to my life. so when times are hard and i feel weak, i think of sending my negative energy away to the universe so i have space for the positive energy to come into my life. it's not a Christian god, of course but it's a Higher Power for me.

basically, don't treat spirituality like it's religion. it's just being connected to the Universe. many agnostics believe that there's something out there. they just can't comprehend what it is. it's like, an agnostic doesn't know what God is but he/she knows what God isn't to them. you don't have to define something exactly to have some kind of relationship with it.

i hope i don't seem like i'm harping on this. it's just that for me, when i look at things with a Universal, godlike view, i become less selfish and when i am less selfish, i am more content. i hope this helps in some way, even if only to solidify your resolve that AA's brand of spirituality is not for you.

I see where you're coming from, GRITS.

I think taking any sort of a spiritual view is more difficult for me because I'm a pretty materialistic person at heart; the first thing I did out of high school was get an honours degree in physics, so when you speak of an energy out there we can't explain, the first thing that comes to my mind is whatever force is responsible for accelerating the universe's continued expansion, haha (so-called "dark energy".

There's not that much mystery in that worldview, but it's never let me down. I have a much easier time solving problems if I'm confident that a correct, physical explanation exists, and that it matters.