alcohol is everywhere!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 227
alcohol is everywhere!
Does anyone else feel that if alcohol weren't everywhere we wouldn't have such a problem staying away from it? Or if it weren't such a social aspect of business functions, personal functions and simply hanging out with other people... It wouldn't be as difficult to stay away from it? I just wonder of alcohol were like pot, and it was illegal and not around all the time, it wouldn't be hard for me to stay away from it. thoughts?
Perpetual Optimist
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: LA
Posts: 1,371
Amen! I posted something similar earlier. I think with sobriety, lifestyles often change. I know plenty of people who don't drink and have noticed that it's really only the people who most likely also have an alcohol problem that notice a person who isn't drinking. Active alcoholics want company after all!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 227
Okay for example, I use pot occasionally, although even though it relaxes me I feel anxious as well. I'm definitely not addicted and don't think I could ever be.. It's also not legal and isn't offered everywhere I go. I feel like if alcohol were the same, at least for me... I'd be able to stay away from it much easier. Alcohol is offered everywhere, parties, after work gatherings, family gatherings, commercials, grocery store samplings, weddings, baby showers, broad showers, bachelorette parties, etc. ya know!?
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Earth
Posts: 1,791
Honestly I agree with you about alcohol use being so pervasive in our society, but what is the point in spending time thinking about it? It isn't going to magically change for you to help you get sober. Focus on getting you sober and you will begin to notice and care less about others alcohol use as time goes by.
Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 332
I totally agree, 83Mama! I don't even think about it anymore when I'm not around it. I've definitely had to make lots of changes to avoid it, and still it shows up in too many places. Oh well, nothing to do but learn to live with it around us and continue to resist.
June
June
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Midwest
Posts: 8,335
I've found I notice it much less than when I first stopped drinking in June 2012. I remember feeling really bombarded by it last Christmas....it seemed like it was everywhere. These days I'm thankful I don't have to part with my money for it anymore
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Mid-Atlantic USA
Posts: 2,441
Yes, it's everywhere, but only a small percentage of drinkers ever become alcoholics. For other drugs, like heroin and opiates in general, the addiction rate is much higher.
I'm not defending alcohol, but your concerns are not a good use of your time and energy. Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, it will never go away. We tried prohibition and it didn't work. Finally once you have some sober time, you will barely notice the prevalence of alcohol.
I'm not defending alcohol, but your concerns are not a good use of your time and energy. Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, it will never go away. We tried prohibition and it didn't work. Finally once you have some sober time, you will barely notice the prevalence of alcohol.
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
I sponsor a bartender......he's coming up on 19 months. Can't get much closer than being a bartender working 65+ hour weeks in bars he used to drink in serving people he used to drink with the same drinks he used to drink himself.......
So long as I believed my sobriety and recovery to be contingent upon the outside world conforming to what I wanted, I got neither sober nor recovered. Sobriety/recovery are an inside-job. They're contingent upon what I do / don't do and that's about it (aside from some Grace and what I believe to be spiritual assistance). If my time was dependent upon what other people do, advertise, sell, say, think or whatever.......I'd probably be drunk before the end of the week - 6+ years of sobriety or not.
What I've found true is that, thank God, my recovery is mostly based upon what I do and don't do.......not even so much on what I think, feel or believe. I've believed plenty "wouldn't work" but when I took the actions in spite of not believing......I got the same favorable results as the people who took the actions yet had believed they'd work all along.
It's been just like not believing penicillin will work but taking the pills/shot anyway. Believe in 'em or not, so long as I take the prescription, it works
So long as I believed my sobriety and recovery to be contingent upon the outside world conforming to what I wanted, I got neither sober nor recovered. Sobriety/recovery are an inside-job. They're contingent upon what I do / don't do and that's about it (aside from some Grace and what I believe to be spiritual assistance). If my time was dependent upon what other people do, advertise, sell, say, think or whatever.......I'd probably be drunk before the end of the week - 6+ years of sobriety or not.
What I've found true is that, thank God, my recovery is mostly based upon what I do and don't do.......not even so much on what I think, feel or believe. I've believed plenty "wouldn't work" but when I took the actions in spite of not believing......I got the same favorable results as the people who took the actions yet had believed they'd work all along.
It's been just like not believing penicillin will work but taking the pills/shot anyway. Believe in 'em or not, so long as I take the prescription, it works
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Originally Posted by 83mama0f2 
Does anyone else feel that if alcohol weren't everywhere we wouldn't have such a problem staying away from it? Or if it weren't such a social aspect of business functions, personal functions and simply hanging out with other people... It wouldn't be as difficult to stay away from it? I just wonder of alcohol were like pot, and it was illegal and not around all the time, it wouldn't be hard for me to stay away from it. thoughts?
Prohibition was repealed in part because, rather than curing all the medical, social and legal ills associated with alcoholism, things often got worse.
You're essentially talking about an alternate universe in which our attachment to alcohol is generally neutral.
I'm not an alcoholic because it's readily available. I'm an alcoholic because once I start, I cannot stop on my own, despite destroying everything that is dear to me in life.
Forum Leader
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posts: 16,945
The media glorifies a lot of things that can be addictive or bad for us. ( alcohol, fast food, violence, pornography/sex, money, weapons, the list goes on ). Misusing or abusing any of them all starts with a personal choice. And blaming anyone other than ourselves for our actions, even in the face of media or peer pressure is merely an excuse.
Re-Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: USA
Posts: 7,909
I work in a restaurant with a full bar so am around alcohol every single day. Also around still-active alcoholics every single day since the food service industry seems to attract more than its fair share of addicts. I'm actually grateful for this daily exposure now. It reminds me of where I was and where I don't want to be again.
Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Colorado
Posts: 355
I agree it is annoying that it is a focal point in most social and business events. But then I think of the prohibition in the US. We became a police state. Not worth it. In time you'll be proud to be the sober one in the room. I had five years sober before I screwed it up. I remember thinking that drunk people just looked stupid.
Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: London
Posts: 369
I think it definitely makes long term sobriety harder but more so than the availability of it, I find the social acceptability and promotion of it harder to deal with. I mean cigarettes are available everywhere too and just as easy to get but they are increasingly socially discouraged and so once a smoker has quit they may find it easier in the long term to stay away from them as they will often receive encouragement from their peers to stay quit. Fr me, when I announced I no longer drink I was met with looks of confusion and bemusement..
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