tomsteve

are ya sure ya wanna just get the months and years behind ya? and do it right now? theres gonna be good lesson and good times in them months and years ya may not want to miss out on, like learning how to be patient.
its not about what im doin while im waiting its about what im thinkin.
turning my attention to something more useful has worked for me.
still practicing it.

it took about....hell...I cant remember...I thinnik about 5-6 months, before I made it a complete 24 hours without even thinkin about a drink, but well worth al the work getting there.

I can still think about drinking. give me a nice warm summer day and a lawn mower and I can occasionally have the thought of how good an ice cold beer would be.
but I end up laughin. I'd buy a 12 pack for that ice cold beer. then rationalize all 12 were an ice cold beer, I just had to drink em all to find out which one was the best! then back in the insanity.
that's when its time for me to remember I don't have to act on my thoughts and work at turning my attention to something more useful-like how my neighbors lawn is lookin like it could use a cutting and how much theyd appreciate me cutting it.

Hevyn

Hi GetMeOut.

Yes, that day arrived for me. I drank for 30 yrs. & it was every day in the end. The first few months after I quit I was obsessed with thoughts of drinking/not drinking. At some point it all settled down. I was no longer angry or resentful & was able to embrace my 'new normal' without alcohol. After living for it - and never imagining my life without it, I rarely think of it.

Notimetoloose

The early weeks/months were intense for me. I was freaking out, I didn't want to fail...crazy how I am responsible for my sobriety and at the same time I can be the saboteur and recognise that.

I like things to happen yesterday as well.
Yet, some great minds tell me it is not about the destination it is about the journey, IDK.

2 weeks is awesome.

Working our recovery, make the necessary changes & address issues that lead us to believe that drinking will in any way be an answer to anything. It all is a process.

Where you focus your attention and energy that is the direction that your life will move in.

MIRecovery

We have all been trained over a long period of time to expect the instant fix. Crack a bottle of poison or pills and our problems disappear until they reappear.

I don't think I have ever met a patient alcoholic. I have found that as time goes on the desire to drink comes less often with a shorter duration

KAD

Funny you'd use that example cuz' that's a big trigger time for me. Something about cutting the grass and sweating to death makes me crave a cold one like nothing else. But I'd be the exact same way. I might try to fool myself by getting a 24 oz can, but I know before it's even empty I'd be back at the store picking up a case.

KAD

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. They really do help to calm me down and stop the obsessing. It almost feels like panic or anxiety, but not crippling so. Just aggravating.

Serper2014

I can only tell you about my experience. I'm on day 17 and there were only two nights so far that I even considered having a drink. One of those nights was a craving the other night I just simply considered it, both of these were within the first 10 days. I may be different than others though because I only drank nightly for 2.5 years. The longer you participate in any behavior the harder it is to undo the memories established from experience. That is why it's very rare for someone to go from obese to physically fit. Either way, I've moved a lot in my life (at least 15 times) and am pretty good at dropping the past and becoming a new person. So the day I quit I decided that it's not that I'm not going to drink anymore....It's that I don't drink..... it's that I'm a brand new person....and I've forgot about the past... I just block it out and focus on the future.... I'm a neuroscientist and that type of psychology is extremely effective. I almost think in many ways it's harmful to walk around thinking "I'm an alcoholic must not drink must not drink" but that is my opinion

GracieLou

What is hard to remember and to deal with at times is that is a journey, not a race.

After 15 months I am grateful for many of the lessons I have learned if not all of them. Some were very hard lessons but I did learn and that in turn created growth.

If I took the old me and placed me were I am today, I would have no clue how to live because I didn't learn anything, I just hit the fast forward button.

Gottalife

Hi GetMeOut,
one very wise poster on here described being recovered as not thinking about drinking.
There is more to it of course, there is a big difference between the problem being removed and the problem just hiding until the next crisis crops up. There might be a clue for you in this little story:

A newcomer asks an oldtimer when sholud they take the steps to which the old timer replies, 'When do you want to recover?, If you want to recover NOW, we'll be taking the steps NOW. If you want to recover later, I guess we can postpone the steps"

It might sound simplistic, but my experience was that my progress in recovery in terms of having the alcoholic obsession removed, closely correlated with my progress in the steps. Though I felt hopeless and didn't think it would work for me, I was into my ninth step when the obsession was lifted. That was at about three months in. Since that time I havent had to think about drinking or not drinking. Even when some of life's low spots hit me, as they do everyone, it has never occurred to me to drink.

I have had plenty of challenges and growth opportunities in life, not all easy sailing, but drinking has not been part of the picture.

I dont think I could handle being sober if I was constantly preoccupied with drinking or not drinking. Thats the nice thing about the AA program, the problem can be removed if we take the action. But sometimes what you hear in the fellowship is almost the opposite.

Nonsensical

I generally agree.

I described not thinking about drinking as freedom.

Living happily-sober-after usually requires some separate (and very worthwhile) effort.