Stoogy

When I first quit drinking I dreaded the thought of being alone I truly did, that lasted until a forced point when my wife went on vacation for 2 weeks and I was fearing a relapse in my heart of hearts, I just needed to get through it when on previous times I would have been drinking even more because I was alone. I realised that after I had got through those 2 weeks I can get through anything now.
You too will get to this point but if you have drinking buddies it does make it more testing.

zeppodog

Ya that's a tough one if you drank alone a lot. I was a shy guy who found he could be outgoing and party after some drinks. It's not that I don't like myself sober. most things I enjoy I enjoy sober, hiking, fishing, camping, reading, movies. I'm just not too outgoing when I'm sober.

airwick

When I hear people say one has to "hit rock bottom", I find myself respectively agreeing to disagree I think that every person is different. If my X-husband hits rock bottom, I think he will die. He's been down so low-so many times---it's going to kill him. I don't want him to hit rock-bottom. I want him to have unlimited access to all his dreams. I'm not sure if he will wake up to see the destruction his drinking has caused but hitting the bottom would kill him. He's just running out of places to hide, no one wants to hide him anymore He tired me out -- I had to get out or I'd find myself heading down that same road. I hit 100 days today, and that is my first 100 of many to come

zeppodog

Good for you, I was proud of myself when I got to 6 months, time to be positive and get on with my life.

dwtbd

time to be positive and get on with my life

Thats what I try and do, finding it doable . That is the key , the jump off point, get back to it if you lose it , better yet keep it and keep on keeping on

Hawkeye13

6 months is fantastic

Keep building on that, learn from the relapse, and enjoy your sober life

Notmyrealname

The way I think it's supposed to work is, you avoid tempting situations for a good long time until you build up enough momentum to where you can reliably depend on yourself to turn down booze in tempting situations, and then you have a little more flexibility after that.

It's awfully easy to slip back into a habit from a situation trigger, and bad habits fade slow.

Carlotta

Glad you are back Zeppodog. I know you from the 24 hours recovery connections
and while SR is great support and for some it is enough, others need face to face support in the physical world. Are you also going to AA or SMART etc....
if not, maybe you should try going, what do you have to lose?

2muchpain

Moderation just does not work for alcoholics, Period.

zeppodog

I've looked for a non-AA meeting in my area and haven't found one, I used to go to AA and just didn't care for a lot of it's beliefs.

2muchpain

I don't care for a lot of beliefs of AA either. But attending AA meetings has been a big help to me.

501BeautyQueen

I went out with a couple friends this weekend and they all got drunk and I didn't drink at all and I spent the whole time realizing I didn't actually like these people.

Sigh.
YASSSS!!

Dee74

I'm you're still struggling but I'm glad you're back Zeppodog
My old life was all about the drink, so I had to leave my old life behind.

It's a big ask to do that I know...but it comes down to which version of Zeppodog do you prefer?

D

zeppodog

I prefer the sober me, guess I need to avoid certain situations and people a lot longer or maybe forever.

Nuudawn

I totally and completely prefer the sober me...well, until I tire of myself I guess and want to run away from home.

I just have to find healthy ways to "get out of my head".