Change4good

what she said. :-)

LadyBlue0527

I just reread that statement and realized how "set it and forget it" that sounded. I have watched so many people struggle on this board. It doesn't negate the fact that the statement, in and of itself, is true. However, everyone is different and each have their own fight. I do have compassion for those who struggle and celebrate those who find their way. It all really comes down to vigilance at wanting to be sober more than you want to drink and the consistent fight to maintain that status regardless of the situation. Always remaining honest with yourself even when you know in the depths of your mind that you're lying through your teeth to yourself. More easily said than done.

Addiction is powerful. The quest is to find more power then "it" through your path of choice and by sharing with others. Gaining strength and wisdom from those have gone before you and by offering encouragement and hope to those who are before you on their path. That and believing in your ability to beat this thing. You CAN do it. You must believe in that in order to succeed.

roomsforall

Thanks for this LadyBlue.

duane1

My health was in rapid decline. If I didn't quit, I was going to die. Sometimes I think this made my choice easy to deal with.

Renarde

I imagine this was a horrifying experience for the poster and was enough for them to quit - it can be about yourself too. I wouldn't invalidate anyone else's reasons for quitting.

Mountainmanbob

I relate

I did not realize it throughout my many years of drinking

but today

I realize what a hard life it was while drinking

(try to remember each day) life if easy today - I thank God for that

Mountainmanbob

freshstart57

This has not been my experience MiamiFella. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. Other recovery techniques make that decision to be done, once and for all. I did. I decided to not drink in any present moment, I will never now drink. This is one of the reasons why I kept looking outside of AA for another way of thinking about sobriety. One day at a time seemed to me to be too much work, all day, every day.

My big decision was not a way to keep drinking. It was a way to remove forever the struggle of initial sobriety. I decided forever.

LadyBlue0527

This is the beauty of the understanding of "you have to do it for yourself".

On the surface that post looks like the quitting is being done for the children. The sentence doesn't read "Having my adult daughters seeing me in detox made me realize that I had to quit for them." It ends with "pretty much did it for me". She knew that was it. She made the decision to quit for herself and due to that her adult children will never have to see her in detox again. That's what I mean by it has to be for you and your family reaps the benefits.

13unluckyforsom

My mistake I read it wrongly

JadeSatellite

Hearing the story of how my partner and younger brother had to drag me across the street into my house with my pants falling down the previous night.

And how I didn't remember a single thing about it.

RobbyRobot

It was all about quitting first for me - sobriety became important later. Drinking was killing me inside and out and when I finally had my last drink I couldn't of cared any less what sobriety was or wasn't going to turn out to be for me I didn't want to die drunk was really itself enough on my plate. When I did my last quit I quit forever - I do live my life one day at a time though because I live in the moment best I can but my not drinking has always been quit and done forever. For me, the forever journey with sobriety gave me hope and strength that the one-day-at-a-time didn't provide. For others, maybe odaat sobriety is what they need and I don't knock it I can understand other's experiences - we all do best when we do what works best for each of us.

Within a few months I knew sobriety would work out for me as I had learned to help others help me and me in turn help others back paying it forward would complete my sober journey and from this simplicity I don't ever fear or otherwise worry about going back to a life of drinking. The are many ways to pay it forward and we can all make our own choices and I have learned helping others being of some kind of service to others who are quitting working with others who have quit is an amazing journey to my own happiness with sober living.

Knowing I'm not alone with my alcoholism and my sobriety is for me an essential foundation stone in my successful life since quitting drinking. I'm sure you too will discover many aha! moments in your own sobriety which will in turn define for you your depth and strength and real value of knowing you too are done with drinking

Olive1

When I became completely, and I mean completely, honest with myself.

miamifella

Wow! Here is a change. Usually I end up talking about why certain ideas from AA did not work for me and everyone disagrees with me. In this thread I share the AA idea of "one day at a time" and a number of people disagree with me.

But seriously, this is what is great about SR. We can all share what works and does not work for us. And we can see that what works is different for different people.

grocerease

One day I woke up and felt so bad that I just knew I had to stop. Drinking at one point was fun but it eventually turned into a nightmare. When I started I wouldn't stop. Always looking for a bigger high. Now I hate alcohol. I think I just realized with research and support that alcohol has no benefit whatsoever. That's how I knew.